


You're taking my Heart (by Storm)

by MaraSenpai1997



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Coming Out, Drinking, F/F, Family, Family Bonding, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hospitals, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pop Culture, There is also dancing, Though there isn't a lot of college stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-03-01 17:05:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13299324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaraSenpai1997/pseuds/MaraSenpai1997
Summary: Leo knew he waslate. Usually, you found your soulmate in high school; he was a Junior in college and nothing. And, he doubted that his Junior year shouldn't be that much different from his sophomore year. He had never been so wrong. Between hisyoungersister finding her soulmate, the realisation he might be bisexual and new friends, Leo's junior year showed a lot of potentials to be quite different than the previous one. And maybe, if he was lucky, there was some unexpected romance on the horizon — but he didn't count on it.Or the soulmate story in which Leo fears he's too old to find his soulmate, Guang Hong gets in an instant crush, Emil is the suffering third party, and Sara and Mila are the ones that bring romance to the story.





	1. The World is in Black and White

**Author's Note:**

> My friend pointed out that today was Guang Hong's birthday, and as he's one of my favourite characters of Yuri on Ice, I needed _something_. This WIP has been lying around for months. I wanted to post it once I finished it, but decided to post it in two parts. I hope the soulmate concept is pretty clear — if not, feel free to point it out and _ask_ it. Hopefully the editing isn't too sloppy, this took me _ages_.

For Leo, soulmates were something that he considered a cute concept, but not necessary to find happiness. In high school, he dated this girl for two years before breaking up. They had graduated and had gone their separate ways. It didn’t help either that’s he wanted to find her soulmate, as she knew Leo wasn’t the one. Leo knew too, but it had stung. Nevertheless, he had been happy with her, so soulmates weren’t needed for happiness, it was romanticised.

 

That was till everyone around him found their soulmates. Suddenly, he started to feel a bit lonely, left out. Because everyone was bright and he was dull. Nobody knew exactly how soulmates worked. There were many studies, many guidelines, each different from another. But the common thread was the same.

 

Everyone was born in black-and-white. Not colour-blind, people can see colour. It’s that humans who haven’t found their soulmates are coloured in black and white. When he was young, most parents were painted in bright colours, having their soulmate at their side, and the kids were in black and white. But as soon as you found your soulmate, and you were _willing_ to be their soulmate, they would start to colour. Yellows like the sun, blue like the sky, green like grass. Leo was familiar with the colours, not on himself. 

 

And, yes, people around him started to gain colour, which was a tad annoying but it hadn’t bothered him. First of all, it was _high school_ , he had plenty of time left. But time had ticked by and no soulmate, no colour, no chance to settle down. Because it was an unspoken rule, you didn’t settle down with anyone that wasn’t your soulmate. The exception was the people who had no soulmate. They were painted in colour from birth. Of course, there were platonic soulmates, but they too had to meet each other, colouring each other with friendship and platonic love. The only difference was romantic soulmates make each-other _glow_. The colours were brighter, _louder_. It was supposedly very romantic. It was more an eyesore for the other people.

 

A hand clapped his shoulder, shaking Leo out of his thoughts.

 

“You were daydreaming again,” Emil, a tall guy, kindly pointed out. He must have been out of it as he hadn’t notice Emil arriving.

 

He wasn’t daydreaming. This was Emil’s way of saying that Leo was once again sulking over the fact he hadn’t found his soulmate. But telling Leo he was daydreaming was kinder than telling him that he was pouting, _again_. He wasn’t even explicitly moping; he was… confused? Unsure. Yes, unsure deemed to fit his current state of emotion.

 

“I feel stupid for wanting something I didn’t want before,” Leo said, eyes flickering towards the couple who was seated a few tables down. They were no longer black and white. Instead, they were painted in bright colours, glowing even a little. Romantic soulmates who were in love, it was the same glow his parents have. Pure and utter adoration for each other.

 

“Yeah, I would feel awkward too if my sister, who is seven years younger, found her soulmate before me,” Emil teased as he sat down in the seat opposite of him. “But, a small reassurance, I still haven’t found mine either, so I won’t bring anyone over.”

 

It was a small reassurance, especially because Emil was his _roommate_. It would have been awkward if he suddenly paraded around, swimming in colours and happily in love, or at least crushing.

 

“The odd thing is, we _meet_ plenty of people. I have crossed many women I wouldn’t mind dating, _yet_ -”

 

As he stole one of Leo’s sandwiched, Emil offered him a deadpanned looking, having the audacity to point his sandwich right back at him. “I have met _more_ people, and you don’t hear me complain.”

 

“That’s because you fancy both men, women and everything in-between. That makes your range a lot large than mine.”

 

The grin on Emil’s face was far from reassuring. “You could opt to try a guy, maybe your soulmate _is_ a guy, and you’ve been chasing after the wrong gender the whole time.”

 

Leo chocked on his own sandwich and stared at Emil with wide eyes. “Emil, I don’t _fancy_ men,” he protested, feeling his cheeks growing warm. It wasn’t like he never thought about it — but they never made him feel the same as he felt around women, so he had written himself of a straight.

 

“And you’ve never considered it?” Emil asked with a mouthful of sandwich.

 

Letting out a protesting noise, Leo placed his sandwich down in defeat. He wouldn’t be able to eat with Emil continually catching him off guard. “Of course I have thought about it, but it doesn’t feel the same as with women.”

 

“Not with movies either? I mean, I’m sure I’m not the only one who _enjoys_ shirtless scenes- especially if they include-”

 

As his appetite had evaporated, Leo had no issue sacrificing his sandwich by throwing it at Emil’s head, successfully shutting him up.

 

“I think half of the world population would _marry_ him no matter age, gender or sexuality, it has nothing to do with my sexuality.”

 

Emil grinned cheekily, continuing Leo’s sandwich after finishing his stolen one. “You know,” Emil should stop talking and eating at the same time. “I genuinely think you should consider that you might be bisexual. I mean, the last person I saw looking at Oscar Isaac like that was my sister, who would have married him a heartbeat.”

 

It was a lost cause. Leo had nothing to throw, Emil was grinning smugly, and he _had_ been looking at Oscar Isaac during, most of the film. However, he will take that to the grave. He should find other friends, ones that weren’t aware of his inner battle whenever he liked men. On the other hand, it was reasonable for straight women to consider other women pretty, so he supposed that it wasn’t that _weird_ to enjoy watching men.

 

~*~

 

Leo was a dancer at heart. Even after high school, when he had to leave his hometown behind and start college, he joined the closest dance studio. It was a massive studio, with multiple classes, teachers and even shows. Those ranged from dance-competitions, free-style projects of students or classical ballet performances, like Swan Lake or the Nutcracker.

 

Dancing was his passion, no lying about that. The classes were excellent, heck, there was where he met Emil before they decided to room together to save money. Not only that, nothing made him more exciting than the actual shows, having a real audience and the dance studio _offered_ that. But that wasn’t the reason he was excited right now.

 

No, right now, they would team up with another group of dancers. The classical _ballet_ dancers. Which meant a lot of women, which Leo definitely didn’t mind. What was even nicer was that there was a lot of couple dancing, as most of them played as the background dancers of a modernisation of the Nutcracker. Dancing with girls to a romantic story. Maybe it would end in romance, perhaps not, but Leo was going to enjoy it.

 

“We’ll be partners?” one of the ballet-dancers asked kindly, holding up the number fourteen. Leo also had drawn fourteen.

 

Leo nodded, showing his assigned number to the woman. “It seems so.”

 

She was pretty, with black hair tied up in a messy bun — not your typical ballerina bun — and almost violet eyes. She had olive-coloured skin, a lovely, not overly polite, smile and she was a nice height. Leo was somewhat insecure about his height, and it was nice to see he was partnered up with a girl who was at least shorter than him. A good first impression, he supposed. Maybe she was his soulmate-

 

Seriously! Why did he classify a complete stranger as a possible soulmate? Last year, it was nothing more than fleeting thoughts, a faint ‘she could be my soulmate’ that crossed his mind. He at least knew where the notion originated from. His sister Olivia had found her soulmate not too long ago, at a much younger age than he currently was. Right now, his brain was kicking his ass that he should _hurry_. Why? He wasn’t sure, but it felt the as if he waited longer, he might not find his soulmate, which was ridiculous.

 

“Leo de la Iglesia,” he offered, holding out his hand hesitantly. Usually, physically contact was what triggered the colours, a simple glance was rarely enough to paint someone in vibrant colours. No, it was often the tender, almost careful touch strangers shared when they first met. Only in a few scenarios, it took multiple touches before the colours appeared.

 

“Don’t be so nervous,” the woman said merrily, grabbing his outstretched hand. “Colours, remember? I’m Sara Crispino.”

 

Leo could hit himself on the head. _Of course_ , she was painted in full colours, she already had found her soulmate. He had been too busy worrying about his stupid thoughts to properly comprehend the situation.

 

He wasn’t sure whenever he should feel disappointed or relieved. Relieved, he supposes. “Sorry,” he apologised. “The nerves, really. I usually notice the colours, but my sister recently has found her soulmate, and I realise how _old_ I am. I mean, I’m no longer a high-schooler. Though most third years still act like one.”

 

Sara smiled reassuringly. She had a very sisterly vibe to her. Maybe she was an older sister to someone. It at least wouldn’t surprise him.

 

“To assure you, my brother, who is twenty-four, has yet to find his soulmate,” Sara said.

 

That was surprising. At the age of twenty-one, Leo was already ‘late’ with finding his soulmate. The older you got, the smaller the chances were. Twenty-four was an age that the vast majority have found their soulmate, maybe one percentage left that hadn’t.

 

“That’s terrible,” Leo admitted, trying to keep a sad smile off his face.

 

To his surprise, Sara laughed, her eyes brimming with joy. “It isn’t like he tries. He avoids physical contact at all cost and glares at everyone who comes too close. He’s scared to bond with people and see that they won’t colour, that _he_ won’t colour. He glares at people and spends most of his time studying and reading romantic stories.”

 

For whatever reason, Leo had forgotten that these people also existed. The ones who _didn_ _’t_ want to find their soulmate. Leo always had been somewhere in between, till his sister had raised the expectations of his family. Of course, there were also people who _really_ wanted to find their soulmates, though that rarely made finding them faster. But there were a few who worked against the system.

 

“Sounds like a wonderful brother to have. Mine had an identity crisis after he realised that he had, a platonic soulmate and was gay. Had been a fun summer that one.”

 

It seemed that these things always happened during the summer. Olivia finding her soulmate, Dylan figuring out that he had, in fact, a platonic soulmate. What was worse was that he had a crush on said platonic soulmate, which was his best friend, and he _did_ have a soulmate. He couldn’t wait till next summer.

 

Sara’s eyes lit up. A shared interest would be one of the very first steps during a date. But this wasn’t a date, this was a ‘get to know your partner because you’ll be stuck with them for months’.

 

 “Siblings?” she asked with excitement.

 

“Four,” Leo answered, knowing where this was heading to. Nothing did beat gossiping about one’ s siblings, something Emil did not understand as he and his sister were the best of friends. They didn’t fight for whatever reason. “You?”

 

“Only one.” So her brother. “But he’s enough of an annoyance to count as four siblings.”

 

The upcoming months were going to be interesting. At least Sara was friendly, who wasn’t bothered the least that Leo was still black-and-white and a ball of insecurity.

 

~*~

 

Leo loved dancing, a lot, but that didn’t mean he had the time for it. College was nothing to sneeze at, it was time-consuming, which made it hard for him to fit in time to practice dancing. Because, while he _loved_ dancing, it was his life, he _couldn_ _’t_ afford failing midterms. Which meant that he had to practice at odd hours, like on a Friday night. Sara, being a student herself though she already had moved on to university, could understand and agreed to the odd hours. The only one who didn’t agree was Sara’s girlfriend, who had insisted that she would pick Sara up at nine — whenever they had finished practising or not.

 

Mila was awesome. She was louder than Sara, with a cheeky grin, mischievous eyes, red-dyed hair and a good sense of humour. She also had arrived on a motorcycle, leather jacket and all. It was clear as day that she loved Sara, both by the adoring look she threw her girlfriend, _and_ the glow that came when touching each other, even the lingering touches of skin on skin made their colours grow brighter, warmer and a bit overwhelming.

 

Nevertheless, no matter how cool Mila was, she did whisk away Sara, leaving Leo all on his own to practice. He managed to last quite a while on his own, his body was aching, he was pushing himself far, maybe too far, but it was refreshing. Also, no one would bother him. It was past eleven o’ clock on a Friday night.

 

As he was towelling his hair dry, his phone started to buzz with an incoming message. Maybe it was one of his friends that invited him along to a last-minute bar trip. Not that he would accept — he didn’t drink. It was unhealthy and rather expensive. With all the dancing he did, he didn’t have time for a job. Everything dollar he spends would add up to his student loan, which was already quite the impressive number. He was going to be broke for years to come.

 

Slinging his towel over his shoulder, Leo picked up his phone and checked the message, mentally already saying ‘no’ to his peers.

 

Surprisingly, it was Emil who had messaged him. It wasn’t like they never texted each other, it was easy if they were in a hurry, but Emil usually would have crashed at eleven, having to get out early for work on Saturday. It must be important.

 

 **Emil [23:39]:** ‘could u do me a favour and check on my suicidal partner?’

 

Blinking at the message, it took Leo a bit to realise what Emil was asking. He wasn’t talking about his romantic partner, he didn’t have one, he was talking about his dance partner. It appeared that Emil’s partner was as driven as Leo to perform well, or she also had a hectic schedule and Friday evening was one of the few free moments.

 

 **Leo [23:40]:** ‘sure, g’ night’

 

 **Emil [23:40]:** ‘thanks!’

 

Not in the mood to wait till his hair was dry, he was risking the chance that his hair would freeze, Leo shoved on a beanie and started changing into his casual clothing. He wasn’t particularly fond of the cold, so it came to him as no surprise that he was covered from head to toe. With the ski-jacket and snow boots it almost looked like he was on a ski holiday, the thick scarf and gloves didn’t help either. The only thing that gave him away was the baggy sweats he was wearing, which were too comfortable to give up on.

 

Slinging his sports-bag over his shoulder, Leo left the changing room to find the place where Emil usually practised. Leo recalled that Emil mentioned he would spend some time rehearsing today, with his partner for a change because of schedule conflicts. This meant that, if Emil’s partner hadn’t moved, she could be found in the room Emil preferred.

 

Thankfully, he was well aware of Emil’s preferred practice rooms, so within a handful minutes, he stumbled on a well-lit room and the family sound of _Grand ballabile_ , Waltz of the Flowers. It was slightly peculiar, as the scene was heavily duo-focused. There were only a few instances either parties had a solo piece.

 

Curious, Leo slipped into the room, leaning against the door frame with was supposed to look like nonchalance. Emil would point out that it’s silly to lean against door frames. It was a bit uncomfortable, and it made you look like a guy who had read too many books and thought that this was the norm to impress girls.

 

Leo wasn’t trying to impress Emil’s partner, or at least not consciously. He had learnt that the girls from the ballet group were there for the same reason as his group, to put on a fantastic show and not to flirt around like a group of high schoolers. There was no need to impress her, she was doing all the work to impress him.

 

He had seen Sara dance before. She was a good dancer, her posture was excellent, and she was elegant. The magic had been more real when they had gotten their practice costumes. They were the same deal as the actual costumes, only cheaper and were fit to be thrown in the laundry without extra care. Because, face it, after a long practice you were sweating like crazy, and you _wanted_ to wash your clothes. But even seeing Sara dance in a flowing, knee-high dress instead of the traditional tutu was _nothing_ compared to Emil’s partner.

 

She was downright stunning despite the fact she solely excited out of hues of grey. She was short, about a handful of centimetres shorter than Sara. Her hair was light-ish grey, a light brown probably or dark blond, and it curled around her ears. A few strands were clipped back with stark-white clips that flashed by as she moved with grace.

 

He was thoroughly fucked. She was his _type_ , cute, short, the short hair he didn’t even know he had a thing for. On the other hand, he didn’t know her _name_ , nor her personality. She could be a stone-cold killer as far as he knew, though he doubted that such a person could get along with Emil, or at least without threaten to kill him once.

 

The song ended and Leo coughed loudly, hoping to catch her attention.  Maybe he could offer her to walk her home. Perhaps Emil was, for once, a good wingman and set him up with a girl, maybe his soulmate. He doubted that he was that lucky, but on the other hand, Sara wasn’t his soulmate either, and he liked the woman. Also, he got along with Mila with absolute ease. So maybe he could get along with her as friends without focusing on a relationship, as clearly, his female friends were kinder than male. This matter would depend though on how meeting Emil’s partner would go down.

 

“You know that’s nearing midnight, right?” Leo explained, watching the girl with interest.

 

Holding her hand up in a ‘give me a moment’ manner, Leo watched Emil’s partner pick up a towel and a water bottle before turning towards him.

 

He had been right, she was cute. Her hair was a mess from jumping around and sweating, her face was flushed, a healthy sheen of sweat making her almost glow. Now she wasn’t moving around, Leo noticed that she was wiry. There weren’t a lot of curves, but Leo appreciated the boyish look, and it wasn’t like having a nice rack was a must have. Hearing Olivia complaining about the back-pains she sometimes goes through, the necessity of a proper chest had evaporated the moment he knew about the horrors that came with it.

 

“I didn’t realise that it was that late already,” the girl eventually said, her face displaying mild embarrassment.

 

Letting out a nervous chuckle, darn it, Leo tried his best not to be too awkward. Her voice is a bit deeper than he was used to from the likes of Sara and Mila, but not unwelcoming. She at least was likeable. He was a tad jealous of Emil, his partner seemed to be great.

 

“I was here till late too,” Leo said, trying to reassure the girl. “Emil texted me to check on you, as he thinks you have the same ‘suicidal’ tendencies as I have.”

 

The girl’s face lit up with relief by the mention of Emil’s name, and Leo couldn’t blame her. He could have been some kind of creep for all she knew.

 

“If working hard is considered suicidal tendencies, then yes, I might have some suicidal tendencies and a wish for sore muscles,” she let out a soft laugh.

 

“Same,” Leo said, unable to hold back a grin.

 

He could already hear his mum lecturing him not being a gentleman, so he shoved his initial attraction to the back of his mind and did what was most likely the best thing to say.

 

“What would you say if I offered to walk you home? It’s pretty late and travelling alone can’t be comfortable.”

 

To his surprise, the girl blinked in confusion. Maybe she already had a boyfriend, or the offer was weird? Was it weird to offer a girl to bring her home? No, not really, it was a proper, gentlemen thing to do, and as he had established Emil had sent him, he wasn’t a complete stranger. Otherwise, it would be creepy.

 

“I wouldn’t mind, I mean, I live in the same dormitories as Emil, so if that isn’t off-route for you,” the girl seemed a tad unsure, her eyebrows pinched together in focus as if she was figuring out a puzzle.

 

“No worries,” Leo assured her. “Emil is my roommate; I could escort you to the door.”

 

Smiling in relief, the girl nodded. “If you don’t mind, I would like to shower first, being all gross and sweaty in the middle of the winter sucks. Plus, I’m dying to get out of this dress, it’s midnight anyway.”

 

Leo wasn’t sure what the dress had to do with midnight, but as long not something akin to Cinderella would happen, he didn’t care. Late is late, the extra fifteen minutes Emil’s partner would spend showering and dressing wouldn’t matter too much to his sleeping schedule, so Leo nodded as a go-ahead.

 

“Great,” she happily clapped her hands together. “Uhm, can I have your name first though? I have no idea who you are.”

 

Realising that, in fact, he had no idea what she was called, Leo nodded. Exchanging names was a step in the right direction. “Leo de la Iglesia,” he introduced himself. “You?”

 

“Guang Hong Ji,” she introduced herself. Leo wondered if Hong was her middle name or that it was part of her first name, he was always quite puzzled when it came to anything that wasn’t your standard, Western name. Which was quite sad, to be frank.

 

“Uhm, is it Guang Hong or Guang?” Leo asked, almost shyly. He definitely didn’t want to address her in the wrong way. “Just asking, I’m not sure and the last thing I want is insulting you.”

 

Ji, Ji was a safe option, for now, looked slightly baffled by his question, but smiled nonetheless. “It’s Guang Hong — thanks for asking, you wouldn’t be the first one to make that mistake.”

 

The smile was so worth the silly question. “Guang Hong it is,” Leo confirmed, hoping that he didn’t butcher up the pronunciation too much. “But, showering?”

 

Guang Hong nodded. “Yes, showering, I almost forgot,” a nervous chuckled filled up the otherwise quiet room. “Could you do me a favour and unzip the dress? Emil zipped it up, but I can hardly reach the zipper.”

 

Leo felt his face grow flustered. He also had done the same for Sara in the past, the practice dresses were skin-tight so that there wasn’t any unnecessary fabric flapping around. The zipper, however, was a pain in the behind to either close _or_ open.

 

“Sure,” Leo said, hoping that his voice didn’t betray his nerves. Pulling off his gloves and squishing them between his legs, he gently placed one hand against Guang Hong’s shoulder blade, on the fabric of course, and sought out the zipper with his other, making sure he wasn’t touching the girl’s skin. It was a no-go to touch people without permission, especially with the whole ‘you suddenly can burst into colours if we’re soulmates and our skin touch’ kind of thing. Plus, he liked Guang Hong, even outside his romance-seeking brain. She seemed awfully sweet. So he didn’t want to scare her off by doing inappropriate things.

 

Pulling the lip of the zipper carefully, Leo prepared himself to see the girl’s bra. There was nothing wrong with a bra, he had three younger sisters, and he had seen the claps of Sara’s plenty of times, yet this was-

 

There was no bra-claps. There was nothing but a stretch of smooth, freckled, skin. With almost trembling hands, Leo stepped back and murmured that he was done. He expected the girl to dart into the dressing room, offering him a grateful smile as she held up the front of her dress. Instead, she dropped it on the ground, stepping out of it with a relieved sigh.

 

“That had been killing me,” Guang Hong said, stretching her arms above her head and showing off well-build back-muscles. “If I had known that beforehand, I might have said no to Emil’s bet, but a month-worth of coffee was so worth it.”

 

Guang Hong was a _guy_. A male, the x and y chromosomes. He had forgotten that there had been a few guys in the ballet group. At first, it didn’t explain the dress, the men would wear proper clothing fitted for men, even the ones who were in the ‘female’ role. But Guang Hong’s words settled in. Now midnight and the dress made sense. Emil, most likely, had placed a bet on the fact that Guang Hong wouldn’t dare to wear a dress during practice. Emil officially was a terrible wingman and friend.

 

“You’re okay?” Guang Hong voiced his concern, his dress bundled together in his arms. “I’m sorry — didn’t know you were uncomfortable with,” he gestured to his bare chest and skin-tight shorts. “Nakedness? Or is it the dress? I usually don’t wear dresses, but there was a bet and-”

 

Leo hurriedly waved Guang Hong’s concern off, hoping that his face wasn’t too flustered. “It’s fine, really,” he hurriedly said. “Really,” he added, completely unnecessary.

 

Despite not looking entirely reassured, Guang Hong nodded and headed off to the dressing rooms, slipping inside the men one instead of the much large female one. If it hadn’t been for the ‘I have no breasts’ incident, he would have figured it out by now. Though, he should have noticed it much sooner, the fact that Guang Hong had been surprised by his offer to walk _him_ home, the fact that Guang Hong lived in a boys-only dormitory. But it seemed that his simple-minded brain had added two plus two together, dress equals woman. Now he could never look at someone in a dress without double-checking, triple-checking their gender.

 

God, this was so embarrassing. It was all Olivia’s fault, if the whole ‘you’re getting too old for a soulmate’ thing wasn’t playing on his mind, he wouldn’t have made a fool out of himself. Now Emil would hear this, and he would laugh and would tease him. Leo could hardly blame him. He should consider a long, painful talk with Olivia to get this off his chest and move on. Finding your soulmate was exhausting and probably not good for his sanity.

 

There, also, was Guang Hong. Leo had shown interest before, and what would he think if Leo suddenly acted differently? It wasn’t like he was going to confess to Guang Hong that he had misgendered him and that was the reason why he had been flirting with him. Though, on the other hand, did Guang Hong even swing that way? It was stereotypical to label male dancers as anything but straight. Yes, Emil wasn’t straight, but plenty of his fellow male dancers had girlfriends- their _soulmates_. Writing Guang Hong off as gay was a terrible thing to do. He probably though Leo was being friendly, which was also the main thing he was aiming. Hopefully, it would work out fine.

 

As he was worrying too much, he hadn’t noticed Guang Hong wrapping things up and headed back over to him.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Blinking slowly, trying to get rid of the glassy look on his face, Leo nodded slowly. “Sleep deprived,” he wasn’t even lying. He was tired, it just wasn’t the reason he had been spacing out.

 

Guang Hong hummed in understanding.

 

Putting his focus on Guang Hong, Leo felt his heart unwillingly skip a few beats. He looked cute, in an oversized jacket, fuzzy hair sticking from underneath his beanie. Apparently, he was also a _nerd_ , judging by the dark scarf with light accents. It looked like the Harry Potter scarf his brother had, only the colours and crest was different. Hold that thought. Since when did he think _guys_ were cute? After all, he had established that Guang Hong was a guy. Maybe he should start to consider Emil’s teasing advice to consider guys by heart.

 

“Harry Potter?” Leo asked nonchalantly as they headed off, hoping that he could make the awkward air between them fade. Or, more like easing his own frantically beating heart. “The scarf.”

 

Guang Hong’s face lit up. “Yes!” he said excitedly, playing with the ruffled ends of the scarf. “Got it for my birthday last year. Can’t see the colours, only when I’m not wearing or touching it, but yes, black with yellow. You’ve read the books?”

 

Almost, Leo felt himself nod, but that would be lying. What was he thinking? He was trying to impress Guang Hong? “No, I’ve watched the movies though, and my brother has read the books and has the tendency to ramble, a _lot_.”

 

As they left the building, the cold autumn air hit him like a brick of ice. Unconsciously, he withdrew further into his jacket, wishing he had brought more clothes along, or at least had picked something warmer than sweats.

 

“Not much fan of the cold?” Guang Hong asked.

 

Sniffing — he could imagine his nose to start running soon — Leo forced a pain-staking smile on his lips. “Yeah, born and raised in California, this is quite the difference.”

 

Guang Hong laughed sympathetically. “Indeed. That much be quite a change, going from Cali to New York.”

 

Leo shrugged. “After two years you get used to it.”

 

That wasn’t entirely true, but it wasn’t as bad as his first year in college.

 

“You did college back in Cali and university here in New York?” Guang Hong questioned, looking slightly puzzled.

 

Wait, how old did Guang Hong think he was? “I’m a third-year college student,” he explained, sounding slightly offended. “I recently turned _twenty-one_.”

 

The shock on Guang Hong’s face was enough for Leo to realise the latter had expected him to be a lot older. A _lot_.

 

“I thought you was like, twenty-five or something. I was already confused _why_ you were roommates with Emil,” Guang Hong admitted.

 

This guy seriously thought he was in his mid-twenties. That was new. Most people thought he was younger than he was, the lack of facial hair and his height did help a lot with that. Guang Hong, was apparently, not like most people. Time to add in more book clichés by calling Guang Hong _different_.

 

“Then how old are you?” he asked, sounding saltier than necessary. “Seventeen?”

 

Guang Hong let out an offended squeak, glaring at Leo with renewed passion, any trace of shame or shock gone. “I’m _nineteen_ , turning twenty in a couple of months.”

 

So there wasn’t too much of an age difference between them. That was nice, after all, Guang Hong had looked young enough to be seventeen, and dating minors _definitely_ was a no-go-

 

Why was he even _thinking_ about dating Guang Hong? Emil was getting to his head, wasn’t he? Or the lack of sleep did that. Or a combination of both. The one thing he could conclude was that he was going to request a new roommate and a new family. Maybe a new identity. Yeah, that sounded good. Somewhere far, far away from Guang Hong’s stupidly cute smile and Emil meddling tendencies.

 

~*~

 

“I hate you.”

 

Leo wasn’t sure why even had called home. There was no plan, no urge to suddenly contact his family. He was on his phone one moment, the other he had dialled his sister's number. He supposed that he used this a reason to bitch to Olivia, the one sister that made him worry about his soulmate. It wouldn’t have been bad if the world wasn’t so cruel. If he didn’t have to fear to die alone because he couldn’t find his soulmate. But nobody wanted to date someone with another soulmate, scared that their relationship would fall apart the moment the other met their soulmate. Leo understood the reasoning, but that didn’t mean it sucked less. Because it did suck.

Leo was surprised that Emil could focus on his homework. Emil was doing homework on the couch Leo was pacing past him, and he wasn’t trying to be quiet. What did he do to deserve a patient roommate? But, also, _Emil_ was there. He loved Emil loads and loads, but he wasn’t in the mood to share his insecurities about his soulmate. At least, not in the way he was going to do with Olivia. Maybe he should have called his brother, Dylan was much calmer, and a better listener, but talking about _soulmates_ with him was downright cruel.

 

Olivia, his oldest sister, was cackling like a maniac on the other side of the line for a while. During the ‘while’, which maybe was twenty seconds at best, Leo wondered if he should hang up. Olivia didn’t give him that option.

 

 “Love you too,” she said, little out of breath. “Tell me, why the call? I thought talking with your baby sister is immature.”

 

Sighing audibly, Leo shook his head in annoyance. He wondered if he had been that annoying during puberty. Most likely not, he didn’t have older siblings he could tease. “Lia and Dani are my baby sisters, you’re my personal nuisance.”

“Touché,” Olivia said. “Now tell me your darkest secrets and the reason you called, because you’re wasting my precious time.”

“I’m scared, _frightened_ ,” he was surprised that Olivia didn’t mock him but patiently waited for him to find his words, to describe his worry. “What if I don’t find my soulmate? I mean, I should have found them years ago, and I didn’t, and now I wonder _when_ I will. I don’t want to end up alone because I’m the almost insignificant minority that simply can’t find their soulmate.”

 

It was still hard to believe that Olivia didn’t start laughing or mocking him. They didn’t exactly get along well, at least most of the time. It wasn’t odd, they were siblings. The stories in which siblings never bickered were a fraud, fake. If you lived in close quarters with each other, you got annoyed with each other way too quickly.

 

“I can’t believe you make me do this, this is _your_ job,” Olivia sounded uncomfortable, which in any normal circumstance would make him grin with joy. Olivia didn’t do discomfort. “But, your soulmate isn’t everything, you know? Surely, you’ll find them, or not. And if you don’t find them, you will have a loving family and friends. Good friends won’t abandon you once they find their soulmate, and we won’t care that you’re single. Love comes in many forms, and a soulmate is one of those.”

 

He wondered for a brief second if this was Olivia. She wasn’t the one for grand, motivational speeches. That was his thing, apparently. He would make a great Captain America with his motivational statements, at least according to Lia. But she was nine so she might be a bit biased.

 

“That was surprisingly… Inspirational,” Leo said.

 

Olivia snorted. Ah, that sounded a lot more like her. “This was your speech when Dylan had his sexual crisis, only slightly altered. I can’t think up any inspirational even if my life depended on it.”

 

That made a lot of sense. Still, he should take his own words on board, whenever he truly believed in them or not. There was no time to fuss over a soulmate when he had so much of his life ahead of himself.

 

“Sorry,” Leo said after a few ticks of silence. “I- it was all getting a bit much. You finding your soulmate, my dance partner has a soulmate and they’re so stupidly _happy_ that it makes me feel lonely. Like, is there anyone who doesn’t have a soulmate?”

 

Emil coughed loudly. Leo felt himself grow flustered, realising that Emil still had heard him spill his worries, something he definitely didn’t want beforehand. But there was nothing he could do about.

 

“With Emil as an exception,” Leo added. “He is still a lovely shade of black-and-white.”

 

All the sympathy Olivia had shown vanished as she started to laugh in delight, probably excited to tell this to her girlfriend all the juicy details of Leo’s non-existing love life. What a lovely sister to have.

 

“Leo, dear,” Olivia sounded an awful lot like their mum. “I know that soulmates are a pain. It’s difficult to find love when most of us obsessed with finding our true love, our special one. The right one will come along eventually. Maybe they’re your soulmate, maybe they aren’t, but as long as they make you happy, it shouldn’t matter.”

 

Right now, Leo started to wonder if Olivia had noted his speeches down, as this one sounded a lot like one he had offered Dylan, _and_ Olivia. Maybe she had noted them down and was currently reading this one out loud to him.

 

“You start to sound like me,” Leo pointed out, not mentioning that those were _his_ speeches. “And I’m not sure if you’re happy about that.”

 

Olivia let out an indignant noise. “I do _not_ sound like you!” she screeched. “I’m trying to cheer you up, and this is what I get?”

 

Knowing that his sister wouldn’t calm down once she got started, Leo offered her a quick goodbye, a message for his family and ended the call. He felt a lot better once he pocketed his phone. He didn’t have the chance to talk about Guang Hong, something that was like an itch he longed to scratch, but it was nice to spill his worries to someone else then Emil.

 

“Feeling better?” Emil questioned, petting on the empty spot next to him on the couch. “I’m surprised that you finally talked to your sister, you have been avoiding it for months.”

 

It wasn’t like he and Olivia got along that well. If it hadn’t been for what happened yesterday, he wouldn’t have called his sister and talked about it. But yesterday was the final straw, he couldn’t sink deeper.

 

“Things happened,” Leo admitted, plopping down next to Emil.

 

He didn’t have to look at Emil to know that his roommate had a curious look on his face.

 

“Things involving Guang Hong?” Emil asked, sounding awfully gleeful. It sounded like he had been playing wingman. “He’s your type, isn’t he?”

 

Scrap that, he _had_ been playing wingman. They should have a talk about this.

 

“Emil, listen,” he faced his friend, who had placed his laptop on the rickety coffee table. “I know that you mean well, but I'm not interested in men, at all.”

 

Emil looked genuinely guilty, which didn’t come as a surprise. He hadn’t a single mean bone in his body. “There was nothing?

 

“I-” he wanted to answer ‘yes’, there was nothing, but that was a lie. He even had _considered_ dating Guang Hong, a full-fledged guy.

 

Leo wished that the floor, or this case the couch, could swallow him whole. “Listen, you know that I’ve been… worried about the whole soulmate thing. So much that my brain had classified Guang Hong as a woman at first glance. I thought he was a woman for a while, not that I think he knew that.”

 

Emil let out a loud, barking laugh, a look of delight painted on his face. “Oh god- you thought he was a _woman_ ,” a small, almost painful pause followed. “The dress wasn’t planned exactly, you know. I thought it brought out his legs well, he has pretty nice legs you know,” another pause followed before Emil started to grin brightly, realisation written all over his face. “You did flirt with him, didn’t you?”

 

“When I thought he was a girl, _yes_. Because he _is_ my type,” it was sad how well Emil knew him. “But after that, no. We walked home together and exchanged numbers because he’s a genuinely nice guy.”

 

He only hoped that Guang Hong saw him as friend. Otherwise, things could get awkward between them quickly.

 

Smiling triumphantly, Emil nodded with satisfaction. “Yeah, by now I know your type,” he pointed out. “But, nonetheless, aside from that you managed to mistake a guy for a girl-”

 

“He was wearing a _dress_ ,” Leo protested, but it was an invalid reason.

 

Emil continued as if nothing happened. “He’s flat-chested and has short hair, so the dress is no excuse, but when did you figure out that he wasn’t a girl?”

 

Wringing his hands together, trying to keep his face somewhat schooled, Leo wished he had picked another hobby, like playing an instrument. That would mean he had to deal with fewer people.

 

 “When he chucked his dress off, and the was no bra, and I could see the outline of his… nether regions, among things,” Leo said, feelings his cheeks burn up.

 

“That’s quite… late,” Emil said hesitantly. “The whole soulmate thing had gone to your head, hasn’t it? I mean, usually, you’re a bit more observant. Or at least observant enough to figure out that it was a guy in a dress.”

 

The sad thing was, Leo _knew_ why it had taken him so long. Because he didn’t want Guang Hong to be a guy because he had been genuinely interested in him — and not when he was a woman. If Guang Hong was a woman, it was easier to deny any feelings he had towards men. But there was no denying the attraction he held towards Guang Hong, though it was not one the same level as with most women he met. But, the easy thing was from not telling Emil his issues he could ignore it.

 

“I think that listening to my own advice, that Olivia not so kindly chucked at my head, is the best way to go forward,” Leo said, carefully avoiding Emil’s question.

 

“The ‘soulmates don’t dictate my life’ advice?” Emil asked.

 

“No,” he huffed, lying. “If you value your sanity, ignore your roommates.”

 

Sadly enough, Emil wasn’t even remotely phased by Leo’s threat. Instead, he threw his head back and laughed.

 

~*~

 

“So…” Leo leaned ‘casually’ against the door frame, trying the remain level-headed. He wasn’t even sure if he ever had given Guang Hong their room number, on the other hand, Emil might have as they were partners. “What brings you here?”

 

He wasn’t dressed to meet people. He had his Tuesday mornings off, which was welcoming as he had evening college on Monday. This, however, meant that he had rolled out of bed when someone knocked on their door, multiple times. So yeah, he wasn’t prepared to meet people, with his ratty Batman t-shirt and worn sweatpants. The fluffy, rabbit slippers didn’t help either, but he could sell that off as a gag-gift from Emil. They weren’t, he loved his slippers.

 

Thankfully, Guang Hong didn’t seem to be prepared either, looking a little lost for words. “I was looking for Emil,” he admitted. “He said he had his Tuesday morning’s off.”

 

“Thursday mornings,” Leo corrected. “He has no college on Thursday morning, I’m the Tuesday one.”

 

Guang Hong’s face pinked, making the freckles that adorned his nose and cheeks stand out even more. “Oh. Uh, nice slippers?”

 

Leo let out a chuckle. “They’re comfy.”

 

Fidgeting around, it took Guang Hong a bit to continue the conversation. “So I woke you up, didn’t I?”

 

“Nah, I was enjoying the warmth of my bed,” Leo admitted. That hadn’t meant it had been _easy_ to leave his bed. “But why do you need Emil?”

 

Leo doubted that Guang Hong was going to practice in the morning, that time could be spent for sleeping in. Not that he minded Guang Hong showing up in his dorm room. While this was the first face-to-face conversation they had since the first meeting, they texted a lot. A month had passed by in flying colours, and it felt like he knew Guang Hong for longer than that. Maybe because, unlike Emil with his outdated memes, Guang Hong was a delightful texting partner.

 

“I wanted to invite him to have coffee. I have my Tuesday mornings off, and I think talking face-to-face is nice than just texting,” Guang Hong awkwardly rubbed his nose.

 

“And Emil is a terrible texter,” Leo supplied, causing Guang Hong to grin shyly.

 

It sounded almost like Guang Hong had a crush on Emil. After all, inviting someone over for coffee was usually saved for dates. On the other hand, Leo still had no idea whenever Guang Hong was gay or not, though, taking the hints Emil had dropped, Leo was ninety percent sure Guang Hong was gay. Otherwise, Emil wouldn’t have tried to set Leo up with him. Though getting coffee didn’t have to be romanticised, as he had a few ‘coffee dates’ with Sara, they weren’t exactly romantic.

 

“He’s a terrible texter indeed,” Guang Hong said. “He’s in college right now?”

 

Leo nodded. “Yes, won’t be home anytime soon, I’m afraid.”

 

Guang Hong looked a little disappointed, but a grin quickly replaced the disappointment. A smile suited him a lot more than a frustrated, sad, look.

 

“I’m still planning on getting coffee,” Guang Hong said nonchalantly. “I wouldn’t mind if you joined me. It’s nice to have some company.”

 

 _A date_ , his mind supplied. So he was Emil’s replacement? Yeah, exactly what he wanted. First his insecurities about his soulmate and then being the second choice. He should have remained in bed. Thankfully, his mind wasn’t all evil and insecurities. _You aren_ _’t gay_ , it supplied. That was right, it wouldn’t be a date if it weren’t two-sided interest. (He wasn’t so sure about the lack of two-sided interest, but denial was a bittersweet thing).

 

“Sure,” Leo said. He reasoning — solid reasoning of course — was that he liked some coffee in the morning _and_ Guang Hong was a friend. “I’ll get dressed, you can sit on the couch if you want. I’m back in a bit.”

 

Guang Hong cracked a smile and ushered him into the dorm room. “Hurry please. I do need my caffeine intake,” he closed his door behind him and plopped down on the small couch.

 

Waving off Guang Hong’s vocal nudges to hurry, Leo walked painfully slow to the bedroom, offering his newly found friend a teasing smile.

 

In return, a poorly aimed slipper — probably Emil’s — was thrown at his head, followed by a not scary scowl. “Just hurry already,” Guang Hong said, eyes flashing a little bit dangerous.

 

“ _Fine_ ,” Leo said in faked annoyance. “Don’t threaten to kill me, I don’t think Emil would appreciate it if you killed his precious roommate.”

 

Maybe not his best choice of words. The grin on Guang Hong’s lips was enough for him to realise that it was, in fact, not his best choice of words.

 

“What precious roommate?”

 

After oh so politely flipping the bird at Guang Hong, Leo slipped into the bedroom to get dressed for his coffee date. Minus the date part because this wasn’t a date. It was as much of a date as his dates with Sara, which were friendly outings.

 

~*~

 

Leo was surprised by how comfortable he was with third-wheeling. Mila, yes, _Mila_ , not Sara, had invited him along to lunch. Not to discuss the upcoming show, which was still a month away, or anything dance related, as friends. Because, despite only having met each other a few times, he and Mila had hit it off well.

 

“I _have_ to ask this question,” Mila said, her face all serious all of the sudden. “And you have to answer in all honesty. What’s your Hogwarts house?”  


By how severe Mila had looked, Leo had expected a life-changing question. Not what his Hogwarts house was, which still left him slightly puzzled. What was with people and their obsession with Hogwarts houses?

 

Wrinkling his nose, Leo took a sip from his Hot Coco that wasn’t hot anymore. He couldn’t wait for the temperature to go up again. “A friend made me do the test,” he mumbled, recalling Guang Hong insisting so that he could gift Leo a scarf for his next birthday if they still were friends when his birthday rolled around. “Gryffindor, apparently.”

 

“Sweet,” Mila said, grinning widely. “Both of us too. Though, who is this… friend you’re talking about?”

 

The way Mila was saying ‘friend’ didn’t hide any underlying meanings. Was Guang Hong more than a friend? A girlfriend? A boyfriend? His _soulmate_?

 

“Guang Hong is a friend from dancing,” Leo explained, emphasising the _friend_ part.

 

Sara’s eyes lit up in recognition. She slung an arm around Mila, causing both of them to glow a little, their colours brighter than usual. It stung a little, seeing them all bright and in love, while the rest of the people he spent a lot of time with where black-and-white. Both Emil and Guang Hong didn’t have an ounce of colour on them, making it a bit easier on the eye. Though he wondered what colour their eyes were, their hair, their skin. Emil’s eyes were darker than the sky, but his hair was lighter than the sun. Both Guang Hong’s hair and eyes reminded him of chestnuts, the grey-tone when he touched the freshly fallen chestnuts was the same as Guang Hong’s hair.

 

“Guang Hong is in my class,” Sara explained to Mila. “ _Dancing_ class. Though I’m surprised you know him, after all, he’s a sophomore, second-year, and I doubt you have the same group of friends.”

 

Lifting his Hot Coco to his lips to hide his awkward smile, Leo nodded in understanding. “He’s Emil’s partner for the performance, and Emil is my roommate. Yeah, that’s how we met.”

 

Funny enough, aside from the embarrassing meeting, Leo was surprised how quickly Guang Hong had slotted into his life, as he had been there all along. They didn’t spend much time together physically, they saw each other mainly at their Tuesday morning coffee date which wasn’t a date, and the rest of the time they spent texting each other. But it was a new friend, and Leo hadn’t made any new friends since freshman year.

 

He didn’t like the smile on Sara’s face. It appeared that the two were entirely in sync with each other. “So… what are your feelings towards him?”

 

Leo knew, for a fact, that Sara and Emil had never met. Which made him wonder _why_ Sara though there was something between them. Also, he had put the emphasis on _friend_. They were friends, nothing more, nothing less. It would be weird to describe them as anything else as Leo didn’t hold any romantic feelings towards Guang Hong. (At least none of which he dared to acknowledge). With the thought circling around his head for a bit, it started to become less weird to find guys attractive. He wouldn’t admit it to Emil anytime soon, at least not until he had made peace with the idea of smooching a guy.

 

“He’s kind,” Leo answered. “A nice friend, with the same sense of humour that Emil and I have, and _memes_.”

 

Thankfully, Sara nodded, smiling slightly apologetic. “My apologies. I thought the two of you might hit it off, I know you’re his type, and maybe he was yours.”

 

“As a woman, he would _be_ my type. But no worries, it’s that I’m not into men,” he lied. At this point, he wasn’t sure anymore, but there was _interest_ , and not Guang Hong. He —  he appreciated men more than before? At least physical. Suddenly he understood the appeal of shirtless scenes.

 

Both Mila and Sara seemed surprised.

 

“You aren’t bisexual?” Mila questioned.

 

“Yes?”

 

Before things could get awkward, Mila changed the topic.

 

“Anyway,” Mila clapped her hands together, ending the topic. “Who is worried about midterms? My roommate is going absolutely _mental_ over her notes, and we still have a month left.”

 

Mila started to tell her story about how her roommate hand-copied her notes and colour-coded everything. This went beyond your bright yellow or green marker and occasional red-inked scribble. This would be considered a full-on art-project.

 

“And then she started _crying_ when she used the wrong colour,” Mila continued, her eyes were bluer than the bluest sky if that made sense. The whole soulmate thing and the colouring remained a bit… vague. “Like I said before, midterms are still four weeks away, but it seems she’s ready to crash and burn. I had to call her boyfriend and announce that it was ‘code-red’, which apparently stands for ‘she’s inches away from having a mental breakdown’. _That_ was a wild night and a hellish morning.”

 

The brightness of their colours dimmed as the two women parted from each other, Mila volunteering to fetch their second rounds of drinks.

 

As soon as Mila was out of earshot, Sara leaned over the table a little, face filled with guilt. “You don’t mind third-wheeling?” she asked.

 

“It isn’t that bad,” Leo said, laughing softly. “I mean, I have third-wheeled before, and those were less pleasant times. This is nice, Mila is nice, and it isn’t like you leave me out of the conversation.”

 

Sara nodded, a relieved look gracing her face. “I’m glad. I always was annoyed when soulmates were absorbed in their own world, their own bubble, especially when they were out with others. But after meeting Mila, I sometimes find it hard not focus all my attention on her. I understand them now, though it doesn’t make me less guilty.”

 

“Don’t be guilty,” Mila chipped in, placing the tray on the table, sliding back in her seat and threw an exaggerated wink Leo’s way. “I like to have all your attention babe. The rest won’t give me as much attention as you do.”

 

“And I would like to have my coffee,” Sara deadpanned, reaching out for the steaming cup of coffee.

 

Leo loved how expressive Mila could be. The redhead looked offended, offended in a manner that made you think someone called her favourite fictional character ‘a useless bag of potatoes’. Yes, by now Leo had figured out that Mila had a fondness for fictional characters that could rival Emil’s sister. Sometimes he even wondered if Mila loved her fictional characters more than Sara, though their besotted expressions were saying enough.

 

Mila, who now had started sob in a fake manner, grabbed Leo’s unoccupied hand, eyes bright with mischief. “Just run away with me, Leo,” she said, squeezing his hand tightly. “It doesn’t matter that we aren’t soulmates, or that I’m lesbian. We could live our platonic love lives together with a handful of cats.”

 

Laughing at Mila’s antics, Leo gentle pulled his hand free, shaking his head. “Listen, it isn’t you, it’s me,” he said dramatically. “I’m more of a dog person.”

 

“Betrayal!” Mila shouted in faked horror, dramatically clutching her heart. “I’m betrayed by my loved one for coffee, and now my platonic soulmate leaves me for _dogs_. What have I done to deserve this heartache?”

 

This wouldn’t be the first time Leo wondered why Mila was studying engineering and not theatre — she would be amazing. She at least had a flair for drama.

 

Changing his gaze to Sara, Leo was surprised to see her face have grown tender, from the way her eyes had softened and her smile was love-struck. He had expected her a least to be a bit annoyed, as Mila was causing quite the scene.

 

“You’re so ridiculous,” Sara whispered, her voice filled with endearment. “And I love you so much.”

 

Mila seemed to be lost for words, her faked, scandalised look melted as fast as snow in the sun and was replaced with adoration. In a span of a minute-or-so, Leo caught her glancing at Sara before looking back at him, the words she probably wanted to say dying on her lips.

 

“I have to use the bathroom,” Leo announced, getting up. His bladder wasn’t protesting or anything like that, but he wanted to give the two some privacy.

 

Mila shot him a grateful look when Sara wasn’t watching, and Leo couldn’t help but offer her a grin in response. It was funny that he didn’t felt lonely or jealous. On the other hand, he had been supportive when his sister came home with her soulmate, showing off her newly acquired colours and their shared glow. He wasn’t jealous that other people found their soulmates, he was happy for them. It sucked that he couldn’t find his.

 

Not that it mattered. Olivia, and in the end he, had been right all along.  He had a loving family, had loving friends, and he could hardly deny that since his conversation with Olivia, he had been happier than ever before. Maybe he took his own words to heart and decide to find happiness in other ways. And if that were in friendship, that would suffice. And maybe, he would find his soulmate in the end, purely by accident without him even looking for them.


	2. But we were in screaming colours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gasp, I am not dead. But in all seriousness, it has been over three months and I hate myself for waiting so long. But I have been struggling to, well, write anything for the last couple of weeks, maybe months, so I kept on postponing it. But it's finally here! I feel the writing is a bit lacklustre, but at some point, I call it quits. Finished is finished, and I think it still has some of my quirkiness into it. Thanks for waiting so long and happy reading!

It was Tuesday morning, which meant coffee with Guang Hong. It was exactly what Leo needed, as he didn’t know who else to turn to. He didn’t see Sara much outside of practice, Emil was his roommate so that was a definite no go and his family would be his last-resort option. He never minded opening up to them, but right now, he didn’t want to discuss with them that he was a raging bisexual and his soulmate might be a guy. Which meant that out of the five children his parents had, two, and maybe three, wouldn’t be able to grant them grandchildren.

 

“Can I ask you something?” Leo asked, voice aloof as if he was asking about the weather.

 

Guang Hong looked a little surprised. It took Leo a while to get going in the morning, so starting a conversation before the first cup of coffee was finished was unusual.

 

“Always,” Guang Hong said, nipping the rim of the cup to hide a small grin.

 

Leo had the feeling he was missing an inside joke, which he did a lot around Guang Hong. He ought to ask about them sooner or later. Because he was getting a bit tired of not understanding the _always_ reference.

 

Licking his lips nervously, Leo busied himself with his own coffee. Maybe doing this over coffee hadn’t been his brightest idea.

 

“Are you gay?” he blurted out.

 

Within seconds, all colour ( _fine_ , he grew paler) drained from Guang Hong’s face, eyes blown huge in shock and lips parted.

 

“What?” Guang Hong stammered. “Yes I’m — is that an issue?”

 

Leo wanted to kick himself. He had made Guang Hong think he was homophobic, which would be very hypocritical considering that, now he thought of it, none of the people he was close to was straight. Out of his siblings, he was the closest to Dylan and Olivia, the former gay and the latter bisexual. Emil was a big question mark, but not straight and considering Mila and Sara were dating each other, well…

 

“God no — I just never knew for sure _and—_ ”

 

Okay, this was a lot harder than he expected. “How did you know? Like, did you had to kiss a guy to be sure?”

 

Guang Hong looked adorably puzzled. “I just knew,” he said, unsure. “I mean, I always have been attracted to men, I never have known differently.”

 

No kissing. Leo supposed he was pretty thick when it came to figuring out his sexuality or never taken men into the equation.

 

“Now I am definitely prying, but how did you know that you weren’t attracted to women? How do you test that?”

 

Scrunching up his face as if recalling bad memories, Guang Hong mumbled his response, “Kissed a girl during spin-the-bottle, we knew we weren’t soulmates beforehand. I thought I was broken because I hated it.”

 

Okay, yes, that’s understandable. Leo had enjoyed kissing girls, at least the very few he actually kissed. Boys were fine too, he doubted that he had been too drunk to care (a night of drinking with his dance class had led to a sudden not-exactly-sexual-crisis. He low-key had seen it coming).

 

“That’s when you figured out you were gay?”

 

“Nope,” Guang Hong said, popping the ‘p’. “I knew it when a few weeks later, I kissed my hot neighbour and yeah, that was so much better than kissing girls.”

 

Judging by Guang Hong’s grin, Leo hadn’t been able to keep his surprise at bay. It was silly, but Leo hadn’t expected Guang Hong to have kissed someone before. He seemed pretty innocent and sweet — though, on the other hand, Guang Hong also had gone through puberty. And, it was silly that kissing someone immediately made you a different person. Guang Hong remained a nice guy, and Leo doubted that this would change whenever Guang Hong once made out with his hot neighbour or made out with a handful of men.

 

“And was he your, you know,” Leo said, somehow unable to muster the word ‘soulmate’.

 

Guang Hong snorted. “I’m still black-and-white, remember? So, no — we were barely friends, and he’s two years older than me. We both were curious, plus he has found his soulmate by now. I saw him this summer again, all in colour and even more handsome — it’s unfair. No guy has called me handsome before. I only heard cute.”

 

Leo knew he should argue with Guang Hong, but he couldn’t. Guang Hong wasn’t _handsome_. Stunning, he supposed. That was his first reaction to seeing Guang Hong, his second one was that he was Leo’s type, later corrected to the fact that he would have been Leo’s type if he had been a girl—

 

 _Wait_.

 

He liked guys. Guang Hong didn’t have to be a girl to be his type. _Oh_.

 

Leo looked at everything that made Guang Hong again as if it was the first time meeting. Wiry frame, short, tousled hair, expressive eyes, the _freckles._

Warmth settled down on his cheeks.

 

Maybe he was overreacting. After all, there weren’t that many gay men so it would be likely that he crushed on anyone that was within his age-range and gay (or at least interested in men). But thinking of Emil in a romantic setting made him shudder, and not in a good way.

 

“You’re okay?”

 

Leo shook his head, before nodding quickly. He was fine, really.

 

“All fine. Just thinking. Don’t have been called handsome before either. I mean, there is no way we can compete with those handsome Hollywood blokes.”

 

Guang Hong’s eyes lit up. “Which Chris?”

 

“Hemsworth, hands down, no competition. He’s _Thor_.”

 

“And you weren’t sure if you liked men?” Guang Hong asked, voice teasing. “Can’t disagree, though I’m team Pine — Princess Diaries 2 was quite the eye-opening movie.”

 

Leo recalled watching that movie with Olivia and—

 

“ _Wait,_ that was Chris Pine!”

 

~*~

 

Somehow, Guang Hong had no sense of self-care. It was clear — to anyone observant — that he had a crush on Leo. His dance-partner Emil noticed, Sara had seen it. Pretty much everyone had seen it _aside_ from Leo. He should just find out if Leo were his soulmate so he could move on, whenever with or without Leo. But that was cruel for both sides. Leo was just easing into being bisexual, and non-consented touching was a definite no-go.

 

However, not proceeding their relationship wasn’t a ticket for Guang Hong to be Leo’s unofficial wingman. Because it turned out, Leo decided to embrace his sexuality and try out a local gay bar. But, not wanting to go alone because ‘going out clubbing alone isn’t fun’, Guang Hong has been dragged along.

 

Agreeing was a bad decision.

 

Guang Hong was sitting on a barstool, sipping a soda because he was underage, and watched Leo kissing some guy. They weren’t soulmates. They were still black-and-white, there wasn’t a sliver of colour. Because soulmates, upon touching, didn’t always burst into colours. Sometimes it was only faint colours, and the more they grew to love each other, the brighter and definer the colours got. This was until they were painted in full colours, of course. But as Leo as his partner were entirely black-and-white, it was a no-go to being soulmates.

 

A guy, full-colour, sat down next to him, ordering a beer before turning all his attention to Guang Hong.

 

He was pretty, with dark hair and eyes and a matching complex.  Guang Hong would guess he was originally from somewhere south, southeast Asia. Thailand, Malaysia, maybe India? He also had a dazzling smile, a well-put-together face (Guang Hong dared to believe the guy was wearing makeup) and he looked rather inviting. However, this guy already had met his soulmate, and they at least must like the guy.

 

“Babysitting?” the guy asked, gesturing to Leo and the guy he was kissing.

 

Grimacing, Guang Hong nodded.

 

The guy winced. “That hurts. Are the two of you…”

 

“Soulmates?” Guang Hong supplied. “As far as I know, no. We haven’t tried, not that there is anything to try.”

 

“Oh.”

 

The guy sipped his beer, scrunching up his face after the first sip. “Which one is yours anyway, the light haired one?”

 

“Dark.”

 

“‘Kay.”

 

Thankfully, Leo had decided to stop kissing the other guy, instead opting to pull the guy to the dance floor. Without a doubt, Leo would try to impress him with his dancing, which was pretty great. Leo was a wonderful dancer, though Guang Hong was biased.

 

“You can just try, you know,” the guy suggested, putting his beer back on the counter. Guang Hong noticed that he only had taken a few sips. “That’s how I met my soulmate. There was this guy I had a ridiculous crush on, but I was too afraid to do anything. I was pretty surprised when I touched him, with permission of course, that he burst into colours. It took a while before I grew full-colour but still—”

 

“It’s worth the try?”

 

This time, the guy smile wryly. “Not always. Lost a great friend because we tried, and there were no colours, but if I hadn’t dared back then, I would have never known who my soulmate was. Soulmates are difficult,”

 

“That’s the first thing I can agree with,” Guang Hong said, sipping his own soda. “But I will wait, I mean, he just figured out that he’s bisexual. Plus, there is no way I can compete with ninety percent of this room.”

 

Guang Hong waved his arm around as indication. There were so many handsome men or pretty women in this club that Guang Hong wondered if they were holding some kind miss America — or more like ‘the hottest person in America’.

 

The guy, in return, looked around the room before measuring up Guang Hong.

 

“You’re cute, you’ll do fine,” he said loftily as if he didn’t have a soulmate. “Though I wouldn’t wait for some guy to return your crush to have some fun. There is nothing wrong with kissing guys, or both, beforehand.”

 

 _Again_. What was up with people and thinking that Guang Hong never had been sexually active? Yes, he didn’t have sex yet, in any way or form, but he had kissed other guys before, he had made out with them. He had his first kiss with his neighbour that looks-wise was utterly out of his league (the guy was socially awkward, which made him less perfect thankfully. If he had a great personality to add to the good looks, Guang Hong wondered if the guy was actually human).

 

“I kissed guys before,” Guang Hong said.

 

It did surprise the guy. “You did?”

 

“Of course I did,” Guang Hong snapped. “I just don’t go kissing guys while I’m interested in another. It gives off the wrong impression.”

 

The stranger flushed with embarrassment. “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just.” The guy re-arranged himself on the barstool, looking a tad uncomfortable. “I did that, waiting for my soulmate to share my first kiss with. And then it turned out _he_ already kissed someone. I’m pretty jealous of him.”

 

Guang Hong offered the stranger a deadpanned look. “You’re jealous of the guy who stole your soulmates first kiss?”

 

“Not exactly, it’s just — my soulmate is my world, but he’s quite difficult sometimes, and he isn’t too fond of people. This guy must have been extraordinary to share something like that with him.”

 

“Is he still together with him?”

 

“No. They never have been together as far as I recall.”

 

Shaking his head in disbelief, Guang Hong hopped off his chair. “Then there is no reason to fret, but I’m fetching my drunk friend and leave — I don’t want him to end up in a strangers bed.”

 

Guang Hong wasn’t looking forward to fetching Leo, but it was the best excuse he had. Plus, there would be something satisfying from prying Leo out of the claws of that pretty guy. Though he doubted Leo would be equally as happy.

 

“I can fetch him,” the stranger offered, gracefully sliding off the barstool. Now Guang Hong noticed the guy barely was taller than he was, maybe two inches at most. “You don’t look too thrilled to pry him away from his partner.”

 

“The catch?”

 

The stranger deflated. “My boyfriend is pissed at me for dragging him along to the bar, so if I tell him that we’re leaving early, I’ll be—” the guy cut himself off in a hurry. “Never mind that. Long story short, he will be pissed. So could you be my saviour and fetch him? He’s over there by the booths, most likely the only one in colour. If he asks who has sent you, tell that Phichit has sent you and that we’ll meet up at the entrance. How does that sound?”

 

The plan was terrible. Of course, not many people would go to the bar if they had a soulmate. If they did, they usually stuck together. Splitting up was an odd thing, and seeing someone coloured sitting along for an extensive period of time was often worrisome. On the other hand, Guang Hong could get away from the dance floor, away from Leo and he didn’t have to face mister bombshell — heart-throb. Eh, that guy.  

 

“Fine, see you in a bit. Leo is very trusting so you probably could drag him along without an explanation.”

 

Phichit’s face lit up, and he disappeared into the dancing crowd.

 

Happily getting away from the noise and many sweaty bodies, Guang Hong headed to the booths. While all occupied, the noises were more rumbles of conversations instead of dirty whispers and shameless moans. Never again would he go to a bar, or at least this one.

 

Guang Hong almost missed the guy he was supposed to be looking for. Because, while _yes_ , he was no longer painted in black-and-white, he still looked like that. Mostly black clothes, black hair and pale skin. But the glass he was colour held a coloured liquid. (If someone, who still hasn’t found their soulmate, touches ‘small’ objects, they turn grey. Like clothes, glasses, food, the cutlery. But for example, a table remained the same colour, as it was too big. The soulmate thing made very little sense).

 

However, to be fair, Guang Hong hadn’t stopped and stared because the guy was in colour — he only realised that afterwards. No, it was because Guang Hong _knew_ him. They have been neighbours for as long as Guang Hong had been alive, which was inching close to twenty years. In addition to that, he was hard to forget. Even wearing glasses and looking like he hadn’t slept in seventy-two hours and carrying a scowl, Seung-gil Lee was stunning as fuck. How the fuck was this guy _ever_ Guang Hong’s first kiss.

 

“Eh, Seung-gil?” Guang Hong said.

 

Seung-gil’s head snapped up, surprise and confusion painted his features.

 

“What?” he squinted, taking off his glasses and peered at Guang Hong. “Guang Hong? What are you doing here?”

 

“Picking you up, I think,” Guang Hong said, leaning against the booth. “Your boyfriend worries you will deny him sex if he wants to leave so early, so he sends me here.”

 

Instead of being annoyed, as Phichit expected, Seung-gil looked surprised and foremost, _relieved_. The club-scene wasn’t Seung-gil’s thing, and the sooner they left, the happier he most likely would be. And, considering Seung-gil and Phichit have been together for a while, Phichit should know this as well. He most likely had told Guang Hong this to make him feel less guilty for abandoning Leo.

 

Seung-gil gathered his papers — most likely homework — in a flurry of movements, rustling noises and cursing (paper cuts sucked).  

 

“So,” Seung-gil said, almost gleefully. He must be a terribly good mood for him to initiate the conversation. “Asking my question again: Why are you in a gay bar?”

 

“Because I’m gay?”

 

Seung-gil offered him a deadpanned look.

 

“A friend of mine discovered that he was bisexual recently, and he wanted to try out a gay bar,” Guang Hong explained as he and Seung-gil made their way through the crowd. “And for whatever reason, he thought it was a brilliant idea to ask me along. While the majority of his group of friends is gay in one way or another. We aren’t even that close.”

 

“So you like him.”

 

Guang Hong felt his face grow hot, and he could hardly blame it on the stuffiness of the club. “Is it that obvious?” he asked timidly, looking around to make sure that Leo was out of earshot.

 

Seung-gil smiled a little, which was quite an achievement. “You’re one of the most self-confident people I know _unless_ you’re around a guy you like. Then you think that you are mere acquaintances and he barely tolerates you.”

 

“That’s untrue,” Guang Hong argued, though he knew it was true. It was frightening how well Seung-gil knew him, on the other hand, they had spent many years living next to each other. He was pretty sure that he had been Seung-gil’s only friend, and maybe one of the few people Seung-gil actually tolerated.

 

“That you like him or that you can’t handle liking people?”

 

Pursing his lips together, Guang Hong knew that the best solution was not answering at all. He liked Leo, a lot. After all, the first time they met he had been kind, friendly and a great guy to talk with. Though Emil later told him that Leo, at first, had been under the impression that Guang Hong had been a girl. It explained a lot though because straight (bi) guys like Leo didn’t look at guys like Guang Hong as if he had hung the moon.

 

“The Hispanic one?” Seung-gil asked, standing on his tiptoes to look over the crowd that separated them from the exit, and the place where they would be regrouping with Phichit and Leo.

 

Pushing himself on his tiptoes, Guang Hong could hardly look over the heads of the crowd, so he was entirely clueless.

 

“I think so,” Guang Hong said, giving up and letting his weight rest on the entirety of his feet. “Or your boyfriend has picked up the wrong person.”

 

Seung-gil shrugged. “That’s a possibility,” he said, and without even a heads-up, he started to make his way through the crowd.

 

Praying he wouldn’t suffocate, Guang Hong followed him.

 

It was surprisingly easy to move past all the bodies. Both because Guang Hong was pretty short, and because Seung-gil wasn’t against using his elbows or satchel to get through the crowd. It was just a matter of staying hot in his heels.

 

Guang Hong could almost taste the cold autumn air the moment he stumbled out of the crowd. Never again would he go to a bar, no matter how much a friend begged and wished for it. This wasn’t his scene, and he doubted that the magical twenty-one would make much of a difference.

 

“There you are,” Phichit said, both his voice and face were painted with relief. “Your friend is incredibly clingy.”

 

Leo was indeed clinging to Phichit as if his life depended on it. Though, the moment his gaze fell upon Guang Hong, he moved prey.

 

Guang Hong hadn’t been prepared to get an armful of Leo. Leo wasn’t even that much taller or heavier than him, but between the fact that skin-contact was a no-go _and_ that Leo didn’t bother to hold himself up, Guang Hong buckled under the weight.

 

His saviour came in the form of Seung-gil, who used a steady hand on Guang Hong’s lower back as a way to counterbalance Leo’s dead weight.

 

“I noticed,” Guang Hong said dryly, glancing at a clinging Leo.

 

He carefully rearranging Leo so he was leaning on his shoulder.

 

“Thanks,” Guang Hong said, nodding at Seung-gil as an inclination that he could remove his hand.

 

Nodding with a grim smile on his face —  Seung-gil hardly could smile genuinely — he removed his hand from Guang Hong’s back.

 

He ignored the odd look Phichit’s offered him, and he headed outside, Leo in tow. Sort of. He wasn’t going to play the designated driver or play chaperon ever again. Drunk people just had to drag their own drunk asses back home.

 

~*~

 

“Want to exchange numbers?” Phichit asked out of the blue.

 

Guang Hong just stared, not sure how to answer. They barely knew each other, and Guang Hong doubted they would meet ever again if they wouldn’t share numbers. In addition to that, he wondered where Phichit would fit into his life. He had enough friends as it was, he wasn’t sure if he could make more time for anyone. (Which was the same excuse he had with Leo, and look what that lead to). On the other hand, the lame excuse of ‘I don’t have my phone with me’ wouldn’t work, as Guang Hong clearly had ordered a taxi ten minutes ago.

 

“Why?” Guang Hong asked, gaze briefly flickering over to a miserable-looking Leo. The guy just had puked his guts out, all the fun of being drunk gone. “We barely know each other.”

 

Phichit just shrugged. “I wasn’t bored,” he said. “And we —  and with that I mean Seung-gil —  could always use more friends.”

 

Seung-gil snorted.

 

“It isn’t a lie,” Phichit said, offering Seung-gil a half-hearted glare. “You’re terrible at making friends.”

 

“I already have Seung-gil’s number,” Guang Hong explained. “And I’m friends with him, sort of, it’s hard to avoid, really.”

 

Phichit looked between the two of them, trying to add two and two together. Though it was more like adding apples and oranges together.

 

“He’s my neighbour,” Guang Hong said.

 

“Oh.”

 

Surprise painted Phichit’s face. And surprise followed by confusion, and then realisation.

 

“You were each other’s first kiss,” Phichit said, voice empty of all emotion. Then, the void was filled with emotions and colours (if words had colours). “Now I feel even more terrible because I can’t blame you,” these words were directed at Seung-gil. “He’s _cute_. I should just have kissed the guy with the nice soccer calves, that would have made our first kiss less awkward.”

 

Guang Hong happily focused himself on Leo, who looked a little darker in the face. In colour, he might have grown a little grey.

 

“You’re okay?” he asked, sitting down on the low, bricked wall. “You look a little ill.”

 

Leo scrunched up his face in disgust. “I don’t hold my liquor well,” he said softly. “Plus kissing that guy hadn’t been my brightest idea.”

 

That was quite surprising. Leo had looked like he enjoyed it.

 

“You didn’t enjoy it?”

 

“I did,” Leo let out a deep sigh. “It’s just that he wanted more, and I didn’t. I was quite happy that your friend had dragged me away, as I wasn’t sure how to say no.”

 

Guang Hong ignored the chill that settled deep in his bones.

 

Two taxies pulled up, and Guang Hong jumped up. Time to go home, _finally_. He couldn’t wait to go back to bed and forget about the night — though it was nice to see Seung-gil again. They could get along quite well, and if he needed someone to just sit and listen, Seung-gil was the go-to guy.

 

“See you around Christmas,” Guang Hong said, waving at Seung-gil as he carefully hauled Leo to his feet.

 

Seung-gil nodded, smiling a little, before ushering a spluttering Phichit into their own cab.

 

“He’s pretty,” Leo muttered, leaning heavily on Guang Hong’s shoulder. “Are you sad?”

 

Guang Hong gave the driver the address as he manhandled Leo into the seat. Emil could have warned him that Leo was a terrible drunk.

 

“About what?” he asked, sliding into the taxi and buckling up.

 

Leo let out a couple of silly noises. “Liking someone who isn’t your soulmate.”

 

Did Leo seriously think that—

 

“I don’t have a crush on Seung-gil,” Guang Hong protested. “Never really have, I—”

 

He doubted that mentioned his crush on Leo would get him anywhere. Though, he wondered why Leo cared about the fact that Guang Hong had a ‘crush’ on Seung-gil. Was he jealous? Or was he hurt by the fact Guang Hong didn’t trust him enough to tell him about a non-existing crush on Seung-gil.

 

Drunk people were confusing. _Crushes_ were confusing.

 

~*~

 

Waking up to a hangover sucked. Waking up to a hangover before sunrise was even worse. What was worst was waking up with a hangover, before sunrise, being called by your mum who almost hysterical tells you that your sister has been admitted to the hospital with blaring sirens and all.

 

It was a three-hour drive to visit his family, one Leo usually saved for the holidays. (Gas was pretty expensive, plus he didn’t have that much free time to spend six hours driving up and down his family home for short visits). And honestly, Leo wasn’t thrilled to creep out of his bed, trying not to wake Emil up, put his shoes on, grab his keys and leave, but his parents wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t an emergency. Maybe Lia would die in five hours, and Leo would have felt terrible for refusing to visit. In addition to that, it was Saturday so he wouldn’t miss any classes, and he would call Sara later to tell her that plans were cancelled. The only thing he had to do was leave a note for Emil and call Guang Hong later and ask how he was fairing. (Leo vaguely recalled Guang Hong dragging him up the stairs to his dorm room — he was really too kind for his own good).

 

So, under the flashlight of his phone, Leo scribbled a note to Emil that he had left for a family emergency. In case of another crisis, all Emil had to do was call. (Though he wouldn’t pick up while driving). Signing the note, he stuck it to the door and left with only his wallet, phone and car-keys in tow. He was glad that he had fallen asleep in his clothes, though he smelled awful.

 

~*~

 

Three hours later, Leo had parked his car and stumbled into the hospital, feeling like he should be the one admitted there instead of his sister. He felt, and most likely looked, tired. He smelled terrible, sweat, alcohol and vomit, and he was starving. Maybe showering, dressing and getting breakfast would have been a sensible thing to do. However, these things could wait. He wanted to know how Lia was fairing. She was his youngest sister, and secretly favourite. Though, if it had been Dani, Olivia or Dylan, Leo would be equally worried and in a state of distress.

 

“De la Iglesia,” Leo told the receptionist, wheezing a little. He should have waited till he had caught his breath. “My little sister was taken in last night.”

 

The receptionist eyed him with worry, but nonetheless, her fingers swept over the keys of the keyboard.

 

“Currently they are wrapping up the tests, but her family — your family, will be in the waiting room.”

 

The receptionist gave him the directions to the waiting room, and Leo left with a polite ‘thank you’ and a more hurried scramble. He wished he had never woken up today.

 

The waiting room was quite an easy find, especially as Olivia’s voice carried through the hallways. Olivia tended to babble when she was worried or nervous.

 

Entering the open waiting room, Leo saw that it was nearly empty, save from his family. Everyone was there, his mum and dad, Olivia, Dylan and even Dani. Though by the looks of it, Dani was fast asleep, curled up in an uncomfortable looking chair.

 

“How is Lia?” Leo asked, announcing his presence.

 

Olivia stopped babbling, Dylan looked up from his phone, his dad stopped pretending to read a magazine, and his mum dropped the car keys she had been fiddling with.

 

“They said she would be fine,” his mum said, voice thick with worry. “They think it’s nothing severe, but they are still running some tests, to be su—”

 

His mum stopped talking, looking at him with wide eyes and a baffled expression.

 

“Oh,” she said, her voice light and shocked. “When did that happen?”

 

Puzzled, Leo ran his hand through his hair, checking if it had been cut short while he had been drunk. It felt fine to him. Maybe there was something on his face? Could you get a piercing while drunk, or a tattoo? It seemed unlikely, especially considering Guang Hong had hauled him into a taxi and dropped him off quite literally in bed. There wouldn’t have been any time to go through either of those options.

 

“What happened?” Leo asked, inspecting his hands to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

 

Then it hit him.

 

His hands weren’t grey. They were the same olive colour as his dad’s. His nails were a pinkish colour, with some questionable looking rubble underneath it. In fact, his clothes were coloured, though barely noticeable as his jeans were black and sweater grey. He was in full colour, he had _met_ his soulmate, and his soulmate liked him. (Otherwise there only would be pale hues of colour)

 

“I don’t know,” Leo admitted, voice higher pitched than he would have liked. “Yesterday night, I think? Can’t remember that well, I was out drinking last night and I’m quite the poor drinker, really. I—”

 

Who could have it been? It wasn’t the guy he had met in the club; whose name he couldn’t remember. He had established beforehand they weren’t soulmates, and in addition to that, the colours couldn’t have been this vibrant. Actually, with colours this vibrant, it had to be someone Leo had met before, knew for longer than a day. But he had met very little people between leaving the club and falling into bed. There were Guang Hong’s friends, but they were each other’s soulmate. The cab-driver but he doubted that he would have been Leo’s soulmate, there is a thing called ‘an age-difference’. (Though his memories were foggy, the guy must have been forty, if not older, that was a definite no-go). But aside from him, who else was there? A few people from the dormitory, but none of them stuck around to talk, to physically touch Leo and activate their colours. In addition to that, Guang Hong was acting both as a pillar of support and a guard dog, making sure nobody could have taken advantage of Leo’s drunken state. But this left no option. It wasn’t Emil, as they had established ages ago that they weren’t soulmates.

 

It made no sense whatsoever, but Leo supposed this issue had to wait till he was back home — eh, at school, where he could ask Guang Hong about things.

 

“You don’t know who your soulmate is?” Olivia asked in disbelief. “While you have been moping about having no soulmate. Ugh, leave it up to you to meet your soulmate at a club.”

 

Flustered, Leo settled his gaze on the eggshell coloured walls. “I don’t think I met them at the club.”

 

“The colours wouldn’t have been so vibrant,” Dylan said, pointing out the obvious.

 

Dylan was officially his favourite sibling.

 

“Dylan got a point there,” his mum said, though she didn’t sound convinced yet. “However, there is something else I ought to ask. Since when did it change from ‘her’ to ‘them’.”

 

Maybe he should have stayed at home and wait for his parents to update him on Lia’s health. He would have figured out that he somehow had met his soulmate, and he would have had the time to both figure out who it was and how to break the news to his parents (especially if it had been a guy — that would have required quite a lot of explanation).

 

 Leo was saved from the awkwardness by a doctor emerging from one of the nearby doors. She drew the attention of his family, which made Leo assume that she had been the doctor doing exanimating Lia.

 

“She most likely will be fine,” the doctor said, waving her hand as if to brush off their worry. “A broken leg, bruised and a mild concussion. She has to stay here for at least a day for monitoring, but she should be able to leave soon enough.”

 

It was a relief that Lia would be okay, though Leo was mostly happy that his parents were distracted. Olivia and Dylan were kind enough to not press the matter of Leo’s possible bisexuality, having gone through that phase too.

 

Dylan slid soundlessly next to him, nudging him gently. “Want to fetch some coffee? They don’t like too many visitors at once, plus you look famished.”

 

Leo’s stomach agreed with his brother.

 

~*~

 

“They don’t lie when the college experience is quite different from high school,” Dylan said in forced nonchalant, though all Leo could hear was longing.

 

He knew that Dylan wanted to do nothing else but graduate and go to college. Away from everyone he knew, away from all the awkwardness and pitiful looks. Being someone without a soulmate sucked, and you were quite often on the receiving end of stares and questions, as everyone would ask who your soulmate is, but you can’t answer. Because there simply isn’t one. You were born as a colourful baby, and that’s it, you’re stuck with it for the rest of your life.

 

“It’s quite different yes,” Leo admitted, munching on some stale breakfast “But you meet a lot of people, and you have to touch a lot of people — if you haven’t found your soulmate yet —  and you’re still prone to make stupid mistakes. It isn’t really about being a grown-up, it’s learning to become a grown-up, growing student debt and discovering yourself.”

 

Dylan let out a shaking exhale. “So, with discovering yourself, you mean…”

 

“Bisexual, yes. Somehow everyone seemed to know it aside from me.”

 

The guilt-stricken look that formed on Dylan’s face was telling him enough. Dylan had suspected it too, which made Leo wonder how obvious he was, or how dense. Both options were entirely plausible.

 

“What gave it away?” Leo asked, stealing Dylan’s breakfast.

 

“Your fondness for male actors. Between you, me, and Olivia, I never knew who wanted to undress Legolas with their eyes the most. I’m still thinking Olivia; you always were always more or an Aragorn kind type of guy.”

 

Leo nodded along, not necessarily able to contradict Dylan.

 

“But it has been years since we’ve watched Lord of the Rings together,” Leo said, voicing his thoughts. “I could hardly have been aware of my sexuality since then.”

 

Dylan shrugged. “It isn’t like I am expert either, it’s just — you aren’t _suddenly_ gay or bisexual. It’s just something that slowly creeps up on you, and then, like a flick of a switch, everything makes sense, like, _that’s_ why I wanted to marry— eh, scrap that.”

 

Leo snickered. It was quite rude to grin at Dylan’s flustered expression, but it was so easy. Dylan was after all, quite expressive when it came to his emotions. It was quite sweet, really. It actually reminded him a bit of Guang Hong, who could get as equally flustered, only it was more noticeable as Guang Hong was quite a bit paler than Dylan.

 

Paler. Well, Leo assumed Guang Hong was paler than Dylan. If Dylan actually had the same skin tone as Leo, which he didn’t know for sure. Actually, thinking about it, Leo was surprised he hadn’t dashed for the closest by bathroom and had checked himself out. It wasn’t any day you woke up with colour on your skin, for the first time at least. There were only two ways for the colour to bleed away, and that was if his soulmate was dead (what a great thing to think about in a hospital), or if they no longer could tolerate you. It happened, after all, this whole soulmate system wasn’t perfect. Not everyone was happy with their soulmate, and not everyone needed a soulmate to be happy. Often timing was a big influence on how things would work out. For example, if Olivia had met her soulmate _ages_ ago, there could have been some complications. For example, that neither girls dared to believe they liked the same sex. (In other situations, the parents could be a major issue)

 

“Do I look like you?” Leo asked, nervously tearing his breakfast in pieces. “Or do I look more like Olivia? Or mum or dad.”

 

Dylan snorted. “We look quite alike, yes,” he said, a crooked grin plastered on his lips. He touched the tip of his nose. “Same skin tone,” he said. He moved his fingers to his eyes. “Same eye colour. Also same hair colour.”

 

It wasn’t exactly surprising. Leo always had imagined himself to look like his dad, which Dylan quite look like. But it was still a relief. What if he had looked like neither his mum or dad? What if he would be the odd one? Olivia looked a lot like his mum, while Dylan looked like his dad. Lia and Dani haven’t met their soulmates yet, but they were still young.

 

“Same lips,” Dylan continued, and if it had been anyone else, this was almost flirty. “Same flush.”

 

“I get it, I look like you,” Leo threw a piece of bread to his brother’s head. It bounced off his cheek and landed noiselessly on the ground, looking sad and soggy. “Next thing you’re saying we have the same taste in men.”

 

Dylan grimaced. “I hope not, mine is ‘straight best friend’.”

 

Yeah, no, that wasn’t really Leo’s type. He wasn’t sure who was. The guy from the bar was okay. Like, not ground-breaking or anything, he barely knew him but had been a sight for sore eyes. Emil wasn’t his type, too loud he supposed. The same way that he would rather date Sara than Mila, as Sara was a bit quieter, gentler. Maybe that was his type, calm and gentle, though not too soft, and not a pushover either—

 

Why was it so hard to have a type? When it came to physical aspects, Leo knew what he liked. A partner shorter than him, though taller wasn’t a deal breaker, wiry, expressive eyes. Short hair helped but wasn’t a must either. To be honest, an open expression and dazzling smile were the most he desired from someone on a physical level. It wasn’t like he was quite the catch.

 

“I have no idea what my type would be. I suppose kind, maybe cute? I’m not all that picky, to be honest.”

 

As he sipped his tea, Dylan grimaced, scrunched up his nose and pushed the cup away. “Cold,” he muttered. “But there must be things you like about people. Like, spectacles? Freckles? Small or big hands? Plush lips that invite you to kiss them? Or fluffy hair — never underestimate someone’s hair. Wearing their heart on their sleeve or being distant? Long evenings cuddling or long evenings clubbing? There is so much you can consider.”

 

“Freckles, I suppose,” Leo admitted. “I like them. Vast amount of skin with freckles dotted over it. It’s pretty. Fluffy hair is also nice, I think,” he hesitated, shaking off the rapidly forming image. “Expressive features. Big and small grins, tear-filled eyes or eyes bright with excitement or love. I think I like that the best about a guy, or girl, or anyone really.”

 

The moment Leo finished his explanation, he knew he was in hot water. Not because Dylan looked like he was plotting something cruel, or looked gleeful or smug. It was because a broad grin had curled up on his lips, and his eyes were bright with _knowing_.

 

“Who is it?” he asked excitedly.

 

Leo had no idea what Dylan was talking about. “Who is what?”

 

“The person you were thinking about,” Dylan explained. “Your besotted expression says it all.”

 

“And how do you know what my besotted expression looks like?”

 

Dylan raised an eyebrow in mock-disbelief. “We look alike, remember? I have seen myself with that expression too often.”

 

Right, Dylan had, or has, a crush on his best friend. He must have seen himself look like a love-sick fool too often.

 

Well, there went all denial. He should have known when he realised during a Tuesday morning coffee meet-up (which started to look like weekly dates), that Guang Hong was his type if he had been a woman. Because clueless Leo was only into women. But now he knew he liked both, well… Guang Hong was still his type, only the gender didn’t have to be changed. In addition to that, Leo genuinely liked Guang Hong. God, he barely could recall his partners face from yesterday, but he could remember all the brief smiles and brushes Guang Hong had shared with him, more out of pity than anything else—

 

 _Brushes_. How small was the chance that he and Guang Hong didn’t accidentally touch each other? Guang Hong had to manhandle him into the cab, and out of it. Up the stairs, into his bed — how big was the chance that their skin _didn’t_ touch? It was small, so small and with Leo being drunk and Guang Hong tired, neither of them would be really alert. In addition to that, Guang Hong was gay, so he was most likely not opposed to dating Leo, or being his soulmate (though Leo felt like he left a lot to be desired. Guang Hong deserved so much better). So that Leo would be painted in colours wasn’t farfetched. This, however, would also mean that Guang Hong was painted in colours, as Leo _definitely_ liked him.

 

“It could be him,” Leo uttered. It sounded more real, more plausible as he uttered the words. “My soulmate could be the guy I like — it seems to make sense.”

 

Dylan’s entire face lit up. “Really? What is he like. Please don’t let him be like Olivia’s girlfriend — she scares me.”

 

Prodding the shredded pieces of bread, Leo just sighed as his lips curled up in what must be a besotted smile. “I like him. My first impression was that he was stunning, and a brilliant dancer. But I would rather describe him as cute than beautiful or handsome, but I like that. He is expressive, artistic, and you would like him.”

 

“I would?” Dylan asked. “Are you trying to sell me your possible soulmate, because it’s quite working. It sounds like you like him, and I would like him.”

 

“He wasn’t my bi-awakening, but he had been a part of it. Though, most men I’m not related to had influenced that — minus Emil.”

 

A nonsensical noise escapes Dylan’s throat. “Emil isn’t bad looking. Still, how are you sure that I’m going to like him. Olivia assured we all would love her soulmate, and I’m still scared of her.”

 

“When I first met him,” Leo carefully explained. “It was pretty cold, and he was wearing this scarf that looked awfully familiar. Turns out he’s quite the Harry Potter fan.”

 

“I swear, if you don’t want him, I want to have him — what’s his house?”

 

House? Oh, right, Hogwarts house. Uhm… He was a Gryffindor, reckless and stubborn (which was surprisingly accurate). Dylan was the Ravenclaw of the family (someone had to be the clever one). But Guang Hong was the kind one — were those the Slytherins? No, those were the cunning ones. _Ah,_ Hufflepuff.

 

“Hufflepuff.”

 

“Marry that guy, or I will.”

 

It was hard to believe that his own brother was threatening to steal Leo’s possible soulmate. On the other hand, Leo would have done the same if _Guang Hong_ was Dylan’s possible soulmate.

 

~*~

 

Leo was sitting cross-legged on the couch in his family’s living room, surprisingly the only place that was free of his family. Olivia and Dylan had shut themselves in their room (and Leo’s room, as he used to share it with Dylan), and Dani was dropped off at a friend’s place, giving his parents the time needed to arrange things with the insurance without having to keep an eye on her.

 

Typing in Sara’s number, Leo leaned against the back of the couch, inhaling and exhaling deeply. He didn’t want to make those calls, but he couldn’t do nothing, not now he met his soulmate. Not now _Guang Hong_ could be his soulmate. Maybe Leo wasn’t completely besotted with him yet (he was, stop denying that), but that would only be a matter of time.

 

“Leo?” Sara’s voice was gentle. “What’s wrong? Your message wasn’t saying much.”

 

Clearing his throat, swallowing his nerves, Leo replied, “Family emergency. Don’t worry, my sister is fine,” Leo added as he heard Sara gasp in shock. “We’ll be revisiting her later today when she is awake and all. It’s fine. However—”

 

He knew that Sara knew Guang Hong. They were in the same ballet class, after all. But how much did she actually talk with Guang Hong? Enough to hear from him? Most likely not. But he could try, and maybe get advice. (Though Sara and Mila were sober when they found out they were soulmates).

 

“Have you seen Guang Hong?” Leo asked, deciding that this was a safe topic.

 

A ‘no’ followed.

 

“Heard from him.”

 

Another ‘no’.

 

Pressing his lips together, Leo swallowed his frustration. “Okay. If you hear from him, could you tell me? I haven’t seen him since last night and—”

 

 _And I am too afraid to call him, because what if he_ _’s my soulmate? Or worse, what if he isn’t? Who else could it be?_

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sara asked.

 

Leo hummed. “I am fine, really. It’s just — it has been a long day, let’s keep it at that.”

 

Sara agreed half-heartedly as if she knew what struggle Leo was going through. “See you on Tuesday practice? The show is in two weeks, you know.”

 

“I know,” Leo said, trying to reassure her. “I will be there, or at least try to.”

 

~*~

 

“How’s Lia doing?” Emil asked, voice crackling out of the speaker.

 

Night already had fallen, and they had visited Lia in the hospital. She is fine, mostly a broken leg and a bad temper. Being bedridden sucks.

 

“Just a broken leg,” Leo told Emil. “She will be fine, I—”

 

_Just cut to the chase idiot._

 

“—Have you seen Guang Hong today, or heard from him. Or, just, anything?”

 

It was the exact same conversation he had with Sara. This was useless, it was unlikely that Emil knew more than Sara, despite being dance-partners.

 

“No, I haven’t,” Emil said, sounding apologetic. “Did something happen between the two of you?”

 

Leo wanted to say ‘no’. Why should he bother his friends with his problems? He would see Guang Hong on Monday, maybe on Tuesday, but no later. And once seeing him again, he had his answers.

 

“Yes, I think so anyway,” Leo babbled. “I — I have to tell you something. A few things actually.”

 

He hugged his borrowed pillow close to his chest, trying to make himself comfortable on the guest bed. Why was it so hard? It wasn’t even a surprise or anything like that, everyone but him saw it coming.

 

“I wasn’t practising last night with Guang Hong,” Leo confessed, which was the excuse he used on Emil. “We went to a bar together, or more like I dragged him to a bar.”

 

“Really?” Emil sounded amused. “Why did you drag poor, under-aged Guang Hong to a bar?”

 

“It was a gay bar.”

 

Emil snorted.

 

“Am I supposed to be surprised?” he continued. “I mean, I saw it coming from miles and miles away. Though, why Guang Hong and not me?”

 

It wasn’t an accusation. Emil didn’t sound hurt or anything, only mildly curious.

 

“He was the only one who knew,” Leo said. “And I wasn’t sure. I’m not frightened or ashamed of my sexuality, but that doesn’t mean I’m not confused or trying to figure things out.”

 

“And the reason you’re asking after Guang Hong was because you went to a gay bar together?”

 

“No,” it was surprising how much more nervous he was for this. He had expected coming out was harder than admitting you met your soulmate. “I didn’t realise at first, because I was in a rush. But suddenly, I was no longer black and white. I am in full colour, brown hair, brown eyes and olive skin. It’s a vibrant colour, I look so much like Dylan, like my dad. But I don’t know who it is, the one who triggered my colours.”

 

Emil gasped. “Really,” he said, voice brimming with excitement. “You met your soulmate, and they like you?”

 

Leo nodded, and hurriedly added a ‘yes’.

 

“And do you like them too?”

 

“I don’t know, it—”

 

“It depends,” Emil said cheekily. “If it’s Guang Hong, it’s a yes. But if it’s a random bloke or girl, well…”

 

Leo made a chocking-like noise. “How do you know that I—”

 

Emil laughed loudly. “It’s so obvious that you like him. Your Tuesday dates, you constantly text each other, you always smile brilliantly when you see him.”

 

Was it that obvious?

 

“It is,” Emil said, despite the fact Leo was quite sure he hadn’t voiced his thoughts out loud. “But they must like you too, according to your vibrant colours, so it must be someone you know. And who have you met yesterday night who you knew, who knew _you_.”

 

He knew the answer. He had thought about it again and again. He had spent most his day wondering about this. It was unlikely it was anyone else than Guang Hong, it simply couldn’t be anyone else. After all, who else? Who else could possibly like him that much?

 

“I hope it is him,” Leo admitted. “So, so much. But what if he isn’t?”

 

“It never stopped you before. You have dated girls who weren’t your soulmate before, so why not dating a guy who isn’t your soulmate? After all, your soulmate doesn’t have to be your endgame. Some end up loving and marrying their soulmate, and some parted ways with their soulmate and found someone else.”

 

A smile curled up on Leo’s lips. “You’ve got a point. Do you think I have a chance with Guang Hong?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

Leo had the feeling that Emil actually did know whenever Guang Hong held affection for him or not. After all, they have been partnered for months, and both Emil and Guang Hong were babblers. It was never quiet between the two of them, unless they were mid-routine and focus was put on making sure they followed the steps.

 

“Do you think I should try?”      

 

Leo could imagine Emil smiling. “I am not your life adviser. I think you have to decide that for yourself.”

 

“You’re cruel.”

 

“Love you too,” Emil chimed.

 

Hugging his pillow closer, Leo just grinned at the wall. “Fine, love you too. I’m off to bed, sleep is quite nice. You should try it too.”

 

“No worries, I also value my sleep — plus _some_ of us have jobs.”

 

Leo grimaced at the idea of having to get up early like Emil had to do. Though, Emil was actually a morning person, something he definitely wasn’t.

 

“Good night.”

 

“Night night. Hurry back, will you? I want to see you in full colour.”

 

 _And happy_.

 

~*~

 

Leo realised, belatedly of course, that calling Guang Hong in advance would have been quite the smart idea. Usually, Guang Hong had class the entire day, but with mid-terms (oh fuck) coming up, their schedules laid in shambles, and it would be a wild guess where Guang Hong was. In class? At the dance school? Library? Coffee shop? There were so many places he could be, and Leo doubted he had the time and energy to check on all of them. He had assignments left to do, tests to study for and of dear, the show was coming up. Where had the time gone to?

 

Nonetheless, unsure where Guang Hong was, Leo ended up knocking on the door of Guang Hong’s dorm room, hoping that Guang Hong was still there, and if not, his roommate was.

 

Guang Hong’s roommate opened the door, looking surprised by Leo’s appearance.

 

The roommate, which name Leo kept on forgetting, was still black and white. His hair was light with a dark streak. He was dressed, though sweatpants and a worn-to-threats sweater was barely any different than straight up wearing pyjamas. (Though, admittedly, this might as well be his pyjamas. The weather hadn’t been too kind to them, and the heater in the dorms was absolute garbage).

 

“You’re in colour,” the roommate said, eyes huge with shock and voice filled with amazement. “You’ve met your soulmate. Who is it.”

 

Flushing on the eagerness, Leo shrugged. “Wish I knew, but I’m looking for Guang Hong. Is he here?”

 

The guy deflated. “No, he’s out. Practice, I think.”

 

Forcing a smile on his face, Leo nodded. “Thanks,” he said. “I will check on him — I haven’t seen him since Friday night.”

 

The roommate opened his mouth, ready to say something, before clenching his jaw shut and offering Leo an odd smile.

 

“I will be off, thanks for your time.”

 

~*~

 

The odd thing was, that up until now, the weight of what it all could mean hadn’t settled in. Yeah, Leo had met his soulmate, and it could be Guang Hong. Not bad, at all. He liked Guang Hong, and it wouldn’t be hard to fall in love with him. He was halfway there any way (or minutes away from his final destination).

 

But when he entered the building where their dance classes were held, where they all could practice with a simple flash of their membership pass, it hit him. Seeing Guang Hong was life-changing. He could meet his soulmate, the guy he would spend the rest of his life with (if everything went well, of course), or he might never find the person who was his other half. Maybe he had to resort to posting his sob-story on a forum and hope that his soulmate would reach out to him.

 

Flashing his membership pass, ignoring the surprised stare of the secretary, Leo started to climb the stairs in the hope to catch a few notes of music. He wasn’t sure whenever Guang Hong was doing solo practice or Emil was with him, Leo had chickened out on checking if Emil was back in the dorms, but there had to be music.

 

On the third floor — why did this building has this many floors? —  he caught the gentle chores that belonged to the _Waltz of the Snowflakes_ , which Guang Hong had a dancing part in.

 

Following the instrumental piece, Leo eventually stumbled upon the room where Guang Hong, just Guang Hong thankfully, was practising.

 

It almost felt like déjà vu. Leaning against the door frame, watching Guang Hong dance around the room, and he was still as stunning as Leo remembered.

 

The dress had made way for shorts and a t-shirt, which riled up as he moved around, showing vast amount of freckled skin. His hair was adorned with neon-coloured hair-clips, keeping the unruly stands at bay. His face was shiny with sweat, causing his chestnut coloured hair to stick—

 

Leo’s heart jumped into his throat when he realised that Guang Hong was basically glowing with colours. From his pink t-shirt to coloured hair-clips and slightly pinker and much warmer looking skin.

 

Guang Hong had met his soulmate, which meant that maybe, Guang Hong _was_ his soulmate. Of course, it could also be a stranger in the pub, as Leo’s memory was pretty hazy. He couldn’t recall seeing Guang Hong in colour, yet he couldn’t recall that he _wasn_ _’t_ in full-colour either. He was a terrible friend.

 

In his mind, he had thought of a casual, almost ‘cool’ way to announce his presence. Instead, he managed to make a chocking-like noise, giving away his presence and alarming Guang Hong along the way.

 

“Whose th— oh, it’s just you,” fright made place for relief. “You scared the daylight out…”

 

Guang Hong never finished his sentence. Instead, he opted to just stare at Leo, eyes huge and jaw dropped.

 

“You’re in colour,” he said, voice strangled with emotions.

 

“So are you,” Leo said, unable to do much better in controlling his voice. “Uhm, colour looks good on you?”

 

He wasn’t even lying. Colour did look good on Guang Hong, he looked so much more alive, but it was a terrible pick-up line. Why Leo was even bothering to flirt was beyond him, as he only would make things worse with his awful flirting. (How did he even manage to get a girlfriend?)

 

“So, that was your emergency?” Guang Hong asked, voice a little bitter. “Found your soulmate, and needed, well, thinking time?”

 

Leo blinked. How was he going to handle this? Guang Hong seemed seriously pissed, though he wasn’t sure why. Unless… unless it looked like he had run away in fright when he discovered he had a soulmate, and _knew_ who his soulmate was. And in this scenario, Guang Hong would be his soulmate, otherwise, he wouldn’t act so sourly.

 

“It was a family emergency, my sister fell down the stairs and knocked herself unconscious somehow,” Leo explained, not bothering to stop his voice from shaking. “I didn’t even know that I met my soulmate till I was actually in the hospital with my family. I don’t know who it is.”

 

He didn’t mention that he knew who he _hoped_ it would be.

 

Guang Hong flushed endearingly. “Now I feel bad. How is she doing, your sister?”

 

“She will be fine, thankfully. My mum was just hysterical when it happened, so she made it sound worse than it was,” he explained, pushing himself off the door frame and walked up to Guang Hong.

 

He was surprised that Guang Hong didn’t step back, though he looked nervous nonetheless.

 

“I actually wanted to ask if you knew who my soulmate is,” Leo asked, stopping only an arm-length away from Guang Hong. “I mean, you were sober, unlike me.”

 

Guang Hong squirmed nervously on the spot. “I am not sure,” he admitted. “I — sorry, I really don’t know.”

 

“And your soulmate, who is the lucky guy?”

 

“I — I don’t know. Can we talk about something else, I mean,” Guang Hong grimaced, or at least tried. Leo never before had seen such an awkward grimace. “Why are soulmates so important?”

 

Instead of being dejected, or feeling worse, Leo felt determined. He wasn’t a fan of soulmates, and he would never admit it that his soulmate, or anyone’s soulmate, would be his endgame romance. But he had seen how happy someone could be with their soulmate. Sara and Mila were the prime example of that. They were so ridiculously in love, and it couldn’t have been solely building on the fact that they were soulmates. They genuinely enjoyed each other’s company, and who most likely have fallen in love with each other without the whole soulmate thing. And if not, they did a fantastic job faking it.

 

“They aren’t important,” Leo admitted. “You don’t need one to be happy. However, fate decides that you and someone else are quite compatible with each other. But you still have to make it work, and I would love to make it work with you.”

 

Guang Hong grew a bit ashy in the face, lips parted in shock.

 

‘What’ was barely whispered, fright laced thickly with the letters.

 

“I like you, a lot. And also think, _hope,_ that you’re my soulmate. I wouldn’t know who else it could be.” Ignoring his nerves, Leo reached out and took one of Guang Hong’s in his own.

 

At first, nothing happened, but slowly both of them seemed to glow a little. Their colours growing brighter and more detailed, if that made any sense. Guang Hong’s eyes were no longer just brown, but they had other colours, like an amber, yellow and orange. There were even hints of green that became more visible the longer Leo clung to his hand.

 

“It’s you,” Leo said. “Oh God, it’s actually you. I was so worried that it was the taxi driver.”

 

Guang Hong snorted. “I hoped it was you,” he admitted, squeezing Leo’s hand with the free one. “But I feared I might have been wrong. In addition to that, I didn’t know what your feelings for me were. You mistook me the first time as a girl, after all, and I thought that after that, you saw me as nothing more than a friend.”

 

“But your colours were bright,” Leo pointed out, recalling that Guang Hong was so vibrant, painted in colours trough someone’s (Leo’s) love for them. “You must have realised that the person likes you.”

 

“I did. I just thought that you wouldn’t like me romantically so that it was someone else than you.”

 

God, he had been such an idiot. “You know what my first thought was when I saw you?”

 

Guang Hong shook his head, as expected.

 

“I thought you were stunning,” Leo admitted, frustrating at the fact his face was burning up. “And when I walked into this room and watched you dance again, I once again thought the same thing. You’re breath-taking, but also kind, funny and one of the people I am most comfortable around. You didn’t need to be my soulmate to make me like you, because I am absolutely besotted with you — or at least according to my brother.”

 

It was both heartbreaking and a relief to see Guang Hong tear up. This words must have hit home, though Leo hardly doubted they were that romantic. “You confuse me so much. I first thought you liked me, but then Emil dropped the fact that you thought I was a girl and that you were painfully straight. But you were kind and easy to get along with. At some point, I was happy with being friends, but I would have dated you without a second hesitation. And then I woke up in colours, knowing that you might as well be my soulmate and that you had bolted and I wished for nothing more than it all had been a dream—”

 

“It isn’t,” Leo said, unable to stop himself from grinning brightly. “It isn’t a dream. I mean, you have seen it yourself. We’re soulmates, and I genuinely like you. Ask Emil or my brother. They can testify for me. I would really like to kiss you now.”

 

“This does sound a dream though,” Guang Hong, lips curling up into a smile. “Though I supposed dream you would be smarter, or bolder. I mean, I would either have expected that you just promptly kissed me or let go of me, as I’m sweaty.”

 

Leo laughed. All he really could do was laugh, feeling his heart flutter happily and his hands growing sweaty.

 

“That isn’t a no,” Leo said. He was surprised that Guang Hong genuinely thought Leo would kiss him without consent. Though, dreams were dreams for a reason. “So, are you in for kissing?”

 

“Sure, why not. This week can’t be more hectic than this,” Guang Hong said, stepping forward and crowding into Leo’s space.

 

“I am not sure about that,” Leo said, letting go of Guang Hong’s hand, placing it at the nape of his neck and leaning in for the kiss. “My parents don’t know that I am bi yet and that my soulmate is a guy — I only told my brother that it was a possibility. I still have to go through the drama of coming out to them, and explaining that I’m basically dating my brother’s wet-dream.”

 

Regretfully, Leo managed to cock-block his own kiss. Guang Hong chocked on his breath, ducked away and started to cough and laugh at the same time.

 

“Your brother’s wet-dream,” he croaked. “Really?”

 

“Well, he wanted to marry you if I didn’t,” Leo said, trying not to let his disappointment seep through. “He would be more your type, I suppose. He is a huge Harry Potter fan.”

 

Guang Hong rolled his eyes. “I don’t like someone because they like Harry Potter. I like them for their personality a lot more,” he grinned toothily. “So unless your brother is a carbon copy of you, personality-wise, I would rather date and marry you.”

 

Leo was about to answer that his brother wasn’t a carbon copy of him, but Guang Hong decided to take matters into his own hands and smacked his lips against Leo’s.

 

It was brilliant, really. It wasn’t necessarily different from kissing his ex, the magical butterflies and firework weren’t there (something that supposedly was a part of kissing your soulmate — Olivia had been lying after all). However, the kiss made him feel more alive than any kiss with his previous girlfriend had managed. And Leo knew that it had nothing to do with the fact that Guang Hong was his soulmate and more with the fact that he liked Guang Hong an awful lot. Maybe soulmates weren’t all that bad if you first gave them a chance without realising you were soulmates.


End file.
